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Dr. Syed Haider Rizvi gets ‘Manthan Award’ for 2009
Bhopal, January 18 (Pervez Bari): The prestigious Manthan Award for the year
2009 has been awarded to Dr. Syed Mohammad Haider Rizvi.
Under the category of 'e-Enterprise and Livelihood Development' bagged by 'KHETI”
(Knowledge Help Extension Technology Initiative) pioneering research project
called Rural e-Services Project in India undertaken in Sironj block of Madhya
Pradesh was experimented and implemented in India by Dr. SM Haider Rizvi and his
British colleague Dr. Andy Dearden, who have been working for the development of
this technology for the last 3 years
The project was a joint initiative of Sheffield Hallam University, The
University of West England and the Oxford University, United Kingdom. The
project. The KHETI has now attracted the attention of the policy makers and
planners interested in ensuring development using ICTs (Information
Communication and Technologies) from all over the world.
Dr S M Haider Rizvi who is currently Director (Policy Analysis) at School of
Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal, received this award at a function
organized by Digital Empowerment Foundation, New Delhi in collaboration of
Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India and important players in
the sector. Dr Haider had piloted the project successfully and has already done
a short feasibility test of KHETI with a cooperative formed and managed by small
and marginal farmers in Sironj.
The KHETI functionalities is speeding-up communications amongst stakeholders
especially agriculture specialists, farmer representatives and farmers. They,
now with the help of mobiles, could create a multimedia package (known as Short
Dialogue Strip or SDSs) using 6 high resolution images and 1.5 minutes voices at
their fields/ villages and send to Agriculture Specialist by uploading on the
web to get back responses on their queries, problems and other areas of
interest. The system is generating knowledge bank and spreading it at large for
wider usage, benefits and empowerment of the poor agriculture community.
The unique feature of the initiative is that technology has been developed in a
participatory manner, involving the farmers as co-designers and focusing on the
capacity building and empowerment of the stakeholders. The technology has proved
of vital importance to improve income, livelihoods and empowerment of farmers.
In KHETI trial run itself over 200 queries were handled and some significant
risks to harvest (and house hold economies) were mitigated. The technology could
very well be applied to enhance communications and information exchanges in
other sectors, as well.
School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal is discussing
possibilities of scaling up the technology applications in India particularly in
Madhya Pradesh along with Sheffield Hallam University, UK. (pervezbari@eth.net)
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