In rural India, the internet has begun to provide e-governance, connect poor people to local leaders and markets, improve access to services, and reduce transactions costs. In 2000, the Gyandoot project of the Madhya Pradesh state government launched a computer network in the district of Dhar to empower people through e-governance and e-information. The network initially connected 20 villages, and later another 11. The district was wired for $ 55,000 in less than a year, and each internet kiosk cost $ 1,650. The kiosks were located in villages that are sub-district headquarters, or hold weekly markets where neighboring villagers come to trade. So each kiosk caters to 20-30 villages. Kiosks are run by franchisees paying an annual license fee of $ 100, and collecting user charges. For Rs. 5 (10 cents), Gyandoot provides historical and current prices and volumes at different market centers for major crops. Villagers use this service to pool resources, hire trucks to get their produce to the most lucrative market, and so increase profits. Gyandoot also provides downloads of land records for Rs. 15 (30 cents). Easy access helps the poor fight encroachment by the rich. Traditionally, land records have been maintained by corrupt officials who extract bribes for access, and have been known to forge records. Other services include online registration for certificates for caste, income and domicile; a public complaint line for broken hand pumps, unfair prices, absentee teachers; and sites for auctioning tractors and other equipment/produce.

> Successful internet kiosks require three pre-conditions: good internet design that can be widely replicated,

> a state government that is interested in e-governance, and good internet connectivity. The executing agency for Gyandoot was a private internet company, Drishtee.com. Encouraged by the success in Dhar, Drishtee now aims to scale up nationally under its own brand name in the next six years. Already it has scaled up to 90 internet kiosks across five states. _Because the model is field-tested and intrinsically profitable, it can be scaled up rapidly by training franchisees._

# _4.10Association for SocialAdvancement (ASA), Bangladesh_

> Starting off as a social service NGO, the Association for Social Advancement (ASA) in Bangladesh focused in the 1990s on micro-credit. By April 2002, it had 1,121 branches with over 4,0000 credit officers

> serving over 1.68 million clients (most rural women) with outstanding loans. It had Taka 6.7 billion

> (approx. $ 118 million) in outstanding loans and Takal.85 billion (approx. $ 32.5 million) in savings

> deposits. On-time loan recovery exceeds 98 per cent. Once supported by DANIDA, it is now self-sufficient,

> since it levies near-commercial interest rates. The reasons for success include:

1. ASA has tested manuals with clear, easily-disseminated rules. This reduces training costs. Strict adherence to manuals transparency throughout its highly decentralized network. Staff are penalized if they do not follow manuals and procedures.

2. Financial monitoring is highly detailed, and closely tracked by the founder.

_3._ Non-monitoring visits by supervisors give feedback on actual functioning and problems of branches. This is quickly translated into new organization-wide directives that amend procedures. _This combines flexiblity and constant adaptation with the discipline of sticking strictly to approved procedures."_

> ASA is now scaling up under the UNDP Micro-Start Program in Yemen, Philippines and Nigeria. In these countries, ASA selects a local partner and then embarks on branch pilots. Based on these, ASA attempts to adapt to local conditions the procedures and manuals used in Bangladesh.

## _4.11 Self Employed Women's Association, India_

This NGO began in 1972 as a quasi-trade union to represent the rights of self-employed women in the Indian state of Gujarat, but moved on to encourage women's producer groups and connect them profitably with local and global markets. It has scaled up nationally and now plans to scale up globally.

> 33 Femando Nimal and Richard Meyer. ASA-the Ford model of Micro-Finance. ADB Finance for the Poor, Vol 3, No.

> 2, 2002.

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