Technology & Democracy -citizen participation
When democracy is meant to be government by the people, for the people and to the people in reality there are several levels of challenges in attaining what we aspire. However, this on a quick glance might seem to be an issue of power and hierarchy. But, it is more than that not many people get the opportunity to express and experience their right in a democracy like India. Factors contributing to this are plenty and lack of access, knowledge and guidance plays an important role. It is important that we acknowledge the government is taking efforts in several forms to bridge this gap.
There is a famous saying from the father of our nation, “The soul of india lives in its villages”. It is important that we empower more souls of India which can enable growth of the nation as a whole on the positive track.
With technology advancements and organisations working tirelessly to enable empowerment of citizens from rural India when come together we could bring a collective change and here is one such recent example.
Saranalayam Educational Trust, working in the district of cuddalore to ensure exercising of fundamental responsibilities of each citizen to see a change in the local community. Through their Village Knowledge Volunteers initiative they aim to build hyperlocal and resilient communities which are capable of sustaining on its own and work towards collective impact with the local bodies.
Reap Benefit is a not-for-profit organisation based out of Bangalore. It is a citizen civic engagement organisation with the goal of helping every young person as a local problem solver. Through technology interventions Reap Benefit enables citizens to exercise their civic muscle by reporting, campaigning and building solutions to problems that are identified by the local community.
Last month, the above two organisations collaborated in a pilot project which aimed at enabling citizens of “Amman Kuppam” a village in the district of Cuddalore to provide their inputs to the village development plan. Inputs from citizens can vary from problems being faced in their locality and/or also the needs of the village — if any.
Reap Benefit provided one of their technology interventions which is whatsapp powered Solve Ninja chatbot. With the chatbot, citizens of the village entered using their whatsapp contribute inputs/ expressed their needs for the village development plan. In the span of two days, we received about 10+ responses. The WhatsApp chatbot made it easier for anyone from village to share their response in any form desire leading to inclusion and diversity.
All the responses were shared to ensure there is transparency.
With the support of local interested volunteers from the same village, the responses were put on Solve Ninja Webapp — an online web application to enable citizens to take problem solving actions. You can see the responses added on the application here in this link — https://app.solveninja.org/app/cuddalore
Since the needs and issues are available on a public and easily accessible platform. The Saranalayam team took effort to bring it to the notice of authorities and leaders of the village. On seeing people needs, the panchayat leader immediately acted upon one of the request which is to bring the newly constructed public toilet to immediate use to ensure there is reduction or no open defecation in the village. Here are the details about the issue: https://app.solveninja.org/locationcardDetail/49/f5dae191-06c2-4b6e-8929-69d0b1dd9645
Post this, the panchayat leader is also acting on the other requests that are put out by people. Most recent one being, efforts to provide patta to people living in government land for more than 70 years. Here are the details: https://app.solveninja.org/locationcardDetail/49/ed3178d6-ca82-47cd-b0b3-fffb5637547e
This pilot project has clearly shown that technology with ground mobilization of citizens can connect the needs to the authorities and leaders who have the intent to solve citizen problem and also those who need to held accountable. In both cases, this is something they couldn’t do alone without support from local community — thats where organisations like Saranalayam and Reap Benefit can add lot more value.
Post this successful pilot, both the organisations are in plan to scale this effort across multiple villages in the district with a focus of enabling both citizen driven problem solving as well as in collaboration with local governance.
If you were wondering how I am related in this effort. I work with Reap Benefit and collaborate with Saranalayam trust along with my team in this effort of empowering souls of India – villages.
If you want to contribute as a volunteer in enabling this type of effort in your region please reachout. Our little wins everyday shall strengthen the democracy and help moving towards citizen driven democracy.
