1. Governance lessons from the experience of telecentres in Kerala.
- Author
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Madon, Shirin
- Subjects
TELEPHONE in business ,INFORMATION technology ,INFORMATION resources management ,EMPLOYMENT ,SERVICE centers ,RURAL development ,DEVELOPING countries - Abstract
This article focuses on the financial and social sustainability of telecentres in the developing countries with special reference to the Akshaya telecentre initiative in Kerala, India. A central argument of this article is that to understand the reality of telecentre activity in rural communities of the developing world and its impact on systems of governance, one need to move beyond the confines of the good governance paradigm that gives rise to them and that continues to frame the parameters used to study these projects. The growing body of work on telecentre sustainability provides a useful starting point for understanding some of the critical issues regarding the survival of telecentres over the long term. The author's case study is the Akshaya telecentre project that was launched in 2002 in Malappuram District, North Kerala, with the specific aim of stimulating rural productivity, income and employment. The author has been involved with this project from its inception together with other telecentre initiatives in India. The scope of this article is to go beyond the "telecentre as good governance" rhetoric and to propose how, why and in what ways telecentres can address governance reform agenda.
- Published
- 2005
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