Rural Development must be considered a strategic national objective,
one supporting a global objective of economic prosperity”
- Joe Taylor
Since 2006, Common Services Centers (CSCs) are providing online services in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine, entertainment, banking and investments, agriculture. utility and commercial services. Today, with over 97439 centers rolled out, this network is emerging as one of the largest retail networks for online service delivery in rural India, across 35 States and UTs. In the last three months alone, 33955 centers from 19 states have reported over 2 crore transactions, handling transactions worth over Rs. 478 crores.
These CSCs are being operated and managed by rural entrepreneurs, with 10% being women. In regions where services are being enabled, successful VLEs are earning up to Rs. 25,000/- a month. Financial services like banking and insurance are fast emerging as sound sources of revenue. Utility bill collections along with ticketing are other popular services availed at these centers. However, Government to Citizen services remain critical for VLE success. Slowly but surely, the CSC Scheme has evolved into a sustainable business model for achieving rapid Socio-Economic Change in rural India.
However, a lot of work still remains. Government departments need to offer more services through these Centers. Financial, educational and agricultural services offered by CSCs need to be standardized across the country. Connectivity and power issues still need to be resolved. Naxal affected areas need special attention. Best practices need to be exchanged and replicated...
In spite of all the odds against them, the CSCs are truly working as Change Agent!
- Editor
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