1. February 2012
Setu Vol IV • Issue 2
BRINGING BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT TO RURAL INDIA
TM
Under the aegis of the National e-Governance Plan of Govt. of India
Public
Services
now within easy reach
G2C
services
special
issue

2. Content
02 CEO Speaks 16 Sahajites writing desk
21 Sahaj Scape
03 Top VLEs
03 Other Successful VLEs
22 Travellers' Delight
04 News 24 Sahaj Suswasthya
05 We, the people of Sahaj
26 Fun Fundaa
06 Sahaj Triumph 26 VLE Success Story
08 Cover Story
28 Horoscope
14 Capacity Building's Diary 29 Chaakri.co.in :
List of Job Vacancies
15 Rural News Bulletin
More than half of the world's estimated 10 million
species of plants, animals and insects live in the tropical

3. Setu Vol IV • Issue 2
BRINGING BUSINESS, EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT TO RURAL INDIA
TM
Under the aegis of the National e-Governance Plan of Govt. of India
Dear Readers,
EDITORIAL
Hope you are enjoying the winter thoroughly. With Lohri, Pongal, Makar
Sankranti and Saraswati Puja just celebrated, we are again charged up for the
coming months. From filing income tax returns to preparing the upcoming
annual budget, the coming two month seems to be very busy for all.
This month's edition of Setu is a special issue on the various Government to
Citizen (G2C) services provided by us to our rural counterparts. “Delivery of
G2C Services to the citizens living in the rural areas through common outlets
by using information and communication technology is the essence of the
CSC scheme. As a private Partner of the government in the e-governance
initiative in six States, Srei Sahaj has been driving its initiatives for making the
G2C services available within the easy reach of the rural people during the last
few years. Our experience says the task is very difficult. Yet we cannot give up
and must continue our efforts to see that more and more G2C services are
delivered through CSCs for the sustenance of the CSC Scheme. We are to
continue building good relationship with the government authorities at the
State as well as local levels for the roll out of these services. I am sure our
dedicated G2C Services Team will continue to farther this initiative,” says Mr.
Nepal Chandra Sen, Vice President-G2C services of Srei Sahaj e-Village
Limited.
From this edition onwards, we have a new section to share with you the
innumerable success stories of our Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) from
across the six states of Assam, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and
West Bengal.
Two great news worth sharing with all of you are our win in the eIndia Awards
Disclaimer : 2011 for the best Best Telecentre Initiative of the Year for its project Uttar
Pradesh eDistrict, and also the Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2012 for its
The views expressed through the articles in
this newsletter may not necessarily be those project "Tatkal Yatra - A go to customer Home".
of the organization.
Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited is not liable for The travel section as usual, takes you on a journey to the Scotland of India,
any content and design carried in the Coorg.
advertisements published in this issue.
With Valentine's Day round the corner, our very own Ms. Paromita
Bhattacharya, Vice President- Capacity Building, shares with us the various
myths behind celebrating this day with such grandeur.
All these and much more, this edition has a lot more in store for you.
Do not forget to get back to us with your valuable inputs or anything more that
you want us to incorporate from the next edition.
Adios till the next edition.
Happy reading…
Published by : We shall wait for you to write back with your comments & suggestions to
Department of Marketing Communications debolina.banerjee@sahaj.co.in or bhavna.shah@sahaj.co.in
Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited
www.sahajcorporate.com
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 1

4. Sahaj has been successful in rolling out a huge network of nearly 25, 000 CSCs
CEO Speaks
across 6 states of India in less than four years. While it has been a very fascinating
journey, Sahaj has faced innumerable challenges at each step some of which
persist till date. Some of the infrastructure based challenges like unpredictable
power supply and connectivity issue have been overcome by deploying
generators and V-sats. While innovative solutions have been devised to
overcome infrastructural constraints there are other impediments which
continue to pose a serious threat to the CSC scheme over which Sahaj has no
control. The most important of such constraints has been the extremely slow
pace at which the CSC network is being used by the Government for routing of
Government to Citizen (G2C) services. In near absence of G2C services,
economic viability of the CSCs and sustainability of the VLEs has come under a
serious cloud. Despite a number of business services (B2C) being offered
through these centres at the initiative of the SCA and the VLE, the earnings of the
latter continue to be negligible as neither the revenue nor the footfalls that the
G2C services were expected to bring to the CSCs are anywhere in sight.
There is an urgent need to expedite the process of routing of Government Services through the CSCs as apart from the
economic implications of the slow pace of flow of G2C services for the SCAs and the VLEs, there is a possibility of a political
unrest as the VLEs are getting increasingly demoralized and frustrated as their investment are not bearing any fruit.
Pending completion of the back end computerization and data digitization, the traditional G2C services like issue of
certificates (birth, death, domicile, caste etc), ration cards, maintenance of land records etc may take some time in
reaching the CSCs. Thus, it becomes imperative for the Government to ensure that some of the on-going/in the pipeline
programmes of the Union and the State Governments are delivered through the CSCs using the expertise of the VLE and
thereby generating some income for him/her.
There is a gnawing need for acceptance of the fact that CSCs, which have been created on a PPP mode, cannot be treated
at par with any other business entity and, as a partner; the Government has a moral and contractual responsibility to
provide them with enough G2C work to make these centres economically viable and self sustaining. The time has come
for the Government to acknowledge the fact that the CSC network has been created through an open and transparent
bidding process with the Government as well as the people (VLEs) as partners, apart from the private sector entities (SCA).
In deference to these distinguishing features between the CSCs and other normal business entities, the government must
declare the CSCs as the first and the obvious choice for implementation of all its programmes and such work should be
allocated directly to the CSCs on a nomination basis rather than going through the price discovery mechanism, repeatedly.
We at Sahaj have constantly been in dialogue with the Union Government as well as the State Governments for
acknowledging and using the CSC network for delivery of government services. We firmly believe that the underlying
objectives of National e-Governance Plan will be truly achieved only when the CSCs become the points of delivery of the
promised Government services. This will bring about a positive change not only in the lives of the VLEs but the rural
populace at large as they are the target beneficiaries of the CSC scheme. In addition, such a move will bring about greater
efficiency and transparency in delivery of government services to the intended beneficiaries of Government's flagship
programmes. Using the CSC network for e-Governance in the true sense would help the government in combating the
existing corruption in delivery of government services and offer a great relieve to the citizen who is the intended
beneficiary but who unfortunately remains largely deprived of the benefits of government socio economic spending.
Meena Chaturvedi,
CEO, G2C Services,
Srei Sahaj e- Village Limited
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 2
It is estimated that the last remaining rainforests
could be consumed in less than 40 years.

5. Assam Bihar Odisha
Top VLEs
VLE Name VLE Name VLE Name
Sunil Kr. Chhetri Kisalay Upadhyay Narayan Service
Cooperative Society Ltd.
Prashanta Knowar Vijay Singh
Chadeigaon Service Co.
Tamil Nadu Uttar Pradesh West Bengal
VLE Name VLE Name VLE Name
Ramasamy S Bajrangi Kumar Rajibul Haque
Revathi S Ram Kishor Singh Soma Tantubay
Jamsher Ali Birendra Kr. Mishra Lingagada LAMPCS ltd.
Other Successful VLEs
Bongaigaon, Assam Aurangabad, Bihar Kandhamal, Odisha
Madhavan P Shamshad Ali Jayanta Biswas
Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh Bankura, West Bengal
In the night of death, hope sees a star,
and listening love can hear the rustle of a wing
Sahaj is deeply shocked at
the untimely demise of an
innocent soul. Our deepest
sympathies on the death of
our VLE Mr. Sanjeevan S
(VLE ID : 3304071700000001)
of Pappireddipatti Taluk,
Dharmapuri District, Tamil
Nadu, who has departed for
his heavenly abode on the
16th of January, 2012.
May his soul rest in peace
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 3
Tigers have stripes to help them hide in the rainforest

6. Srei Sahaj leads in Aadhaar generation in Tamil Nadu
News
Amongst all the Enrollment Agencies, Srei was declared Shahidul Islam, State Head, and Mr. Gaurav Loomba,
to be in the top position for Aadhaar generation in Tamil AVP (G2C service). During the tour, she visited a good
Nadu. Since March 2011, Srei has generated a total number of CSCs and interacted with the VLEs. The CEO
number of 3,95,679 Aadhaar cards. also met a number of senior government officials and
discussed about the CSCs project with them.
PFRDA Public Awareness & Customers Connect Meet
in Assam. Commercial tax service now available through Sahaj
Jan Seva Kendra
The Commercial Tax e-Return filling service was
A PFRDA Public Awareness & Customers Connect Meet
was successfully held in Udalguri and Barpeta districts,
organized by VLE Nabajit Deka, Nabin Ch. Sarma and
Abul Kalam Azad respectively. Among those present inaugurated by Mr. Nakul Dubey, Minister for Urban
included the VCDC Chairman, Gramp Panchayat Development and Commercial Tax, Uttar Pradesh at
President, Village Head, a well known Social Activist, Sahaj Jan Seva Kendra, Itaunja, Bakshi ka Talab,
Principal and teachers of nearby schools, few Self Help Lucknow. Mr. Balvinder Singh, Principal Secretary, Mr.
Groups, Tea Garden Labour Union members along with Chandrabhanu, Commissioner, Commercial Tax (also
around 100 general public of the area. The benefit of the Secretary to CM-UP) and Mr. Jivesh Nandan, Secretary
PFRDA scheme along with a brief introduction on SAHAJ IT were present to grace the occasion. Other officials
and e-Learning were given during the meet. from Commercial Tax Department, Centre for e-
Governance were also present.
CEO visits CSCs and government officials in Assam
Ms. Meena Chaturvedi, CEO (G2C & E-Learning), Srei The first e-Return was also filled through the Sahaj Jan
Sahaj, undertook a 2 day tour of Assam in the month of Seva Kendra on the same day by M/s Avadh Bihari Ram
December 2011, where she travelled to the districts of Prakash.
Golaghat, Sonitpur and Darrang accompanied by Col.
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 4
Rainforests are being destroyed because the value of rainforest land is
perceived as only the value of its timber.

7. “You can increase your brain power three to fivefold simply
by laughing and having fun before working on an issue.”
We, the people of Sahaj
- Doug Hall
Sahaj ushers in the New Year with great pomp and grandeur.
Games being conducted by the HR Team at the Sahaj Head Office.
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 5
Half of the world's species of plants and animals will be destroyed over the next
quarter century due to rainforest deforestation.

8. Sahaj shines at e-India awards :
Sahaj Triumph
Wins Best Telecentre Initiative of the Year
Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited has been conferred the eINDIA 2011
Best Telecentre Initiative of the Year Award for its project Uttar
Pradesh eDistrict. The eINDIA 2011 Awards organised from 14-16
December, 2011 at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, is one
of the largest platforms of the nation for recognizing the talents from
across the government, industry and social sector organizations
working for ICT, Healthcare & Telemedicine not only in India but
internationally as well.
Various governments across the globe have hailed telecentres as the
optimum solution to answer concerns of national development. It
plays a crucial role in narrowing the very-prevalent digital divide in
remote, rural and otherwise disadvantaged communities. These
and other segments in rural areas can through it gain information,
seamless access to knowledge and education, information by
governments, and other services.
The eDistrict is one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects under National
e-Governance Plan of India. The project seeks to automate field
level government functioning and provide G2C services to rural
citizens in an easy, fast and cost effective manner. The project undertakes the backend computerization to enable e-
delivery of services through the Common Service Centres, which ensures optimal leveraging and utilization of the core
infrastructure. Srei Sahaj integrated the eDistrict portal with its portal in April 2011 and today provides a number of
government services through the Sahaj Common Service Centres in the three districts of Uttar Pradesh - Sitapur, Raebareilly
& Gorakhpur from 30th April 2011.
Introduction of the e-District services by Sahaj was a milestone in changing lives of the rural citizen. The idea of “governance
at your doorstep” became true and a rural citizen now doesn't have to travel long distances in order to avail government
services. The idea was to make the process of issuing certificates like Income, Domicile, Birth, and Death etc. transparent
and as simple as possible. e-District helped common man in solving problems faced when going to a tehsil.
The award for Telecentre Initiative of the Year aims to honour organizations from throughout the world that demonstrates
extraordinary effort, innovation, leadership and excellence in the use of digital technologies to support community,
economic, educational social development. A total of 60 governmental, non-governmental, private enterprises, etc. had
participated for the Awards. Many dignitaries like Ministers, Secretaries, Additional Secretaries of the Government of India
and respective state governments are associated with this platform. Reputed corporate giants like Microsoft, Huawei, TCS,
and HCL etc are also associated with this platform.
On receiving the award, Mr. Neeraj Chandra, Head of Operations – Uttar Pradesh, Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited, said, “The
eDistrict project resulted in the creation of a single-window-solution for the common man, who earlier used to invest
incredible amount of time, effort and money to avail a utility-certificate. A survey conducted in the three e-Districts on over
300 rural citizens clearly shows that the above mentioned initiative has saved approx. ₨1.2 Crores of common citizen only
in terms of transport from their respective village to the Tehsil head quarter. The integration has proved to be beneficial for
Srei Sahaj in terms of online monitoring of transactions, ensuring accountability at every step and timeliness in delivery of
service.”
Congratulating the entire team Ms. Meena Chaturvedi, CEO – Public Services & e-Learning, Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited
said, “We are very proud to bag the e-India 2011 Awards. Winning the awards for the Best Telecentre Initiative of the Year
has been the result of Team Sahaj's focused effort to provide the last mile connectivity which is essential for bridging the gulf
between urban and rural India. With relentless efforts of nearly 4 years Sahaj has been successful in creating an amazing
network of 25000 tele centres termed as “Common Service Centres” under the National e-Governance Plan, spread over 6
states of India. Each tele centre is ICT enabled and geared to provide IT based government to citizen services as well as e-
commerce services. We have great senses of satisfaction in knowing that we offer these services to the door step of rural
citizen, which saves them both time and energy. The journey has been very satisfying but arduous. We still have many more
miles to travel and innumerable challenges to overcome. Awards and recognition of this kind helps strengthen our resolve
and boost our morale. We are thus grateful to the organizer of the eINDIA Awards for recognizing Sahaj's effort at nation
building.”
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 6
The howler monkey is the loudest animal living in the rainforests of South

9. Srei Sahaj adds another feather to its cap:
Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2012
For nearly a decade now, the
Skoch Consultancy Services has
honored the extraordinary
accomplishments enhancing
inclusive growth and good
governance. Skoch, today, enjoys
the distinction of having
instituted several of the oldest,
most prestigious and
comprehensive civilian awards in
the field of governance, capacity
building , empowerment,
inclusive growth, citizen services
delivery, technology, academics
and change management. The
Skoch Awards identify the
greatest interventions that have
benefited humanity and
deepened our understanding of
India on a greater scale.
Srei Sahaj E-Village Limited has
been awarded the Skoch Financial Inclusion Award 2012 for its project “Tatkal Yatra A go to customer Home”. The award
ceremony was held in Delhi on the 5th of January, 2012. The project has been rated amongst the top 50 Financial Inclusion
Projects in India during the year 2011. The Tatkaal Yatra was a project conducted by the Sahaj representatives along with
their 250 Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLE) where a house to house visit was made across 3,000 households in rural Uttar
Pradesh. The basic idea of the project was to create mass awareness and educate the rural populace about the benefits of
financial inclusion.
The drive was undertaken under the umbrella of “Bima Saksharta Aviyaan” The officials who visited these houses, carried a
shoulder strapped, interactive touch-screen audio visual media kit which briefed about the benefits of financial inclusion
through customized animations and short films.
In this manner, 15 households each was touched across 250 villages and VLE locations. The whole event was completed in
55 days with 5 teams working simultaneously.
The team was able to influence 30,000 plus villagers to actively consider and understand the need of financial services and
generated approximately 2,000 interested leads to help them protect their families. More than 300 households voluntarily
opted for the different savings schemes and were brought into the folds of financial inclusion.
The biggest challenge faced by the Sahaj officials during the project was to change the mindset of the rural populace about
the concept of financial inclusion, create awareness about the various financial services and the value addition it does to
their lives.
Mass media drives and road shows had a short memory recall, thus, devoid of one on one interaction. This left the rural
citizens with a horde of unanswered queries and doubts resulting in poor acceptance of the financial products in rural India.
It is not the lack of desire or power to purchase but due to the unavailability and lack of awareness of financial products in the
rural areas that it has failed in the financial inclusion initiative.
Sahaj has taken the initiative through this project and is committed to take this on a larger scale through its widespread CSC
network deep down to core of rural India in the times to come.
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 7
Paper products make up approximately 40 per cent of our trash.

10. Cover Story
Public
Services
now within easy reach
“E-Governance today is like a half empty glass, some most promising Developing Nation. But on the other
people look at the part that is full, some look at the hand, 300 million population of India still lives below
part that is empty” the poverty line. The 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI)
Report ranked India 45th, amongst the leading countries
The scale of e-governance in a country with alarming hunger situation. A
like India is vastly different from significant number of people in India
something being attempted in Europe or are living below the minimal socio-
even the United States. In both these economic benchmarks sections like the
regions the use of computers and literacy urban and rural poor, historically
levels far exceeds the levels prevailing in disadvantaged people, etc. constitute a
India. In fact, there exists a clear digital major portion of the population. Adding
divide in India and as a recent UN survey to the woes is the fact that the
shows that “while in the United States, vulnerability of these sections has been
54.3 per cent of citizens use the Internet, increasing ever since the onset of
compared to a global average of 6.7 per globalization. This has resulted in these
cent, in the Indian subcontinent, the sections becoming even more
proportion is just 0.4 per cent.” And this marginalized both socially as well
percentage comprises largely of the e c o n o m i c a l l y. I t i s a l s o a n
urban populace.” acknowledged fact that while
India is a land of diverse cultures, Information Technology can act as an
traditions, geography and equally diverse important tool to bridge this divide, a
is the social and economic condition of digital divide, can actually result in
its people. With an economic growth rate widening the gulf.
of 6.9 per cent in the third quarter of The government of the day, through its
2011, India is emerging as one of the policy decisions can effectively use
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 8
One tree can filter up to 60 pounds of pollutants from the air each year.

11. technology, can bring about Government or e-Government or
G2C services aims at
unprecedented changes in the Digital Government can be
connecting the
way people live their lives, government to the citizens
defined as “the employment of
communicate, interact and by talking to citizens and the Internet and the world-wide-
conduct business. Believing that supporting accountability, web for delivering government
IT interventions can become an by listening to their information and services to the
enabling tool for reaching out to grievances and by abiding citizens.'
the citizens of the country with to the true meaning of e-Governance is the use of
ease, speed and economy, the democracy. We have been discussing of how the ICT
information technology for the
Government of India launched platform for G2C, G2B, and G2G has been
transforming changes in the life of the citizens. There free movement of information to
the Common Services Centre's overcome the physical barriers of
is another platform, namely, “consumer to
(CSC) Scheme in 2006 as a part government” or C2G, which mainly constitutes the traditional paper and physical
of its initiative under the area where the citizens can interact with the based systems.
National e-Governance Plan government. e-Governance enhances the
(NeGP). Through the CSC We can also call it an e-democracy which is an earnest
access to technology and delivery
scheme, the government has effort to change the role of the citizens from a passive
information giver to an actively involved citizen. In an
of government services to benefit
committed itself to addressing
e-democracy, the government informs the citizen, the citizens, business partners
the divide, since it believed that
represents them, encourages them to vote and and employees. It involves the
e-governance would improve
engage the city in governance. E-debate can be automation or computerization
the standards of living of those
platform where all the stakeholders such as of the existing paper-based
on the wrong side of the divide government, civil society, private organization and the procedures that will prompt new
and those residing in the rural citizens of the country can share their opinions and styles of leadership, new ways of
areas, and allow them access to debate on policies to strengthen the democracy debating and deciding strategies,
economic opportunities further. Let us take an example of the political leader
new ways of transacting business,
available to their urban contesting for elections with a defined manifesto, the
manifesto can be shared with citizens through an e-
new ways of listening to citizens
counterparts.
platform and can be changed in accordance with the and communities, and new ways
The National e-Governance of organizing and delivering
feedback from the citizen. This initiative will further
Plan of the Indian Government strengthen the process by enhancing the information.
seeks to lay the foundation and representative role, improving accessibility of citizens The primary objective of
provide the impetus for the to their elected members and developing the capacity e-government is to establish a
long-term growth of e- of the elected representative to engage in e-
long-term, organization - wide
Governance within the country. government. For such transformation, infrastructure,
technology and capacity building of people is only strategy to constantly improve
The plan seek to create to the
one aspect, whereas, the most important aspect is the operations with the end in view
right governance and
political willingness among the ministries and the of fulfilling citizen needs by
institutional mechanisms, set up
senior public officials which plays a critical role. For transforming internal operations
the core infrastructure and
the e-governance initiative to succeed, e-readiness such as staffing, technology,
policies and also implement a needs to be built. This means strengthening processes and work flow
number of Mission Mode infrastructural inadequacies, reducing the barriers to management.
Projects at the center, state and e-governance and strengthening the drivers of e-
integrated service levels to governance.
create a citizen-centric and Gaurav Loomba Ty p e s o f s e r v i c e s
business-centric environment AVP-G2C Services delivered through
for governance. Sahaj- Delhi e-governance
E-Government is any kind of The four types of e-governance
digital interactions between government and citizens services are Government-to - Citizen (G2C),
(G2C), government and businesses/Commerce (G2B), Government-to-Business (G2B), Government-to-
government and employees (G2E), and also between Enterprise (G2E), and Government-to-Government
government and governments /agencies (G2G). (G2G) out of which G2C, G2B and G2G services are
According to the United Nations, Electronic important for us.
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 9
Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator.

12. G2C Services (Government to citizen Mr. Shardendu Tripathi,
services) Village Chaumukha, Block
Brahmpur, Tehsil Chauri Chaura,
These services are delivered to Customers/ common Gorakhpur, UP.
people through various channels.
E.g. Services through e District portal, basic citizen The Brahmpur block is situated 32
services such as license renewals, ordering of kilometers. away from Gorakhpur.
With a population of 15, 8615, people, the literacy rate
birth/death/marriage certificates and filing of income
41.6 per cent is just by having 4 PHCs with a facility of 10
taxes, as well as citizen assistance for such basic services Beds & no college level educational institute Mr.
as education, health care, hospital information, libraries, Shardendu Tripathi although from a well off background
and the like. started his CSC with a noble cause to provide his villagers
Government services right at their door step. and support
G2B Services (Government to business them in every possible way.
His CSC was established with a hope to transform the
services) rural dynamics and ease the life of the rural villagers. The
The government interacts with various business in terms government services were made available in May
of policy enforcement, collection of taxes, contract 2011.The edistrict service launch created a new energy in
management etc. The biggest area that falls under the the rural gamut. They now have a “Chota Tehsil”
providing birth, death, domicile, caste and income
government is contract management.
certificates to the villagers. This took away their pain of
travelling to far flung location for the government
G2G services (Government to government certificates and negotiating with middlemen for getting
services) the same in time.
This has also helped the VLE in bringing more visibility of
Government to government (G2G) is the electronic
his kiosk and cross selling of e-learning and other B2C
sharing of data and/or information systems between
services. .People now looks up to him with more respect
government agencies, departments or organizations. E.g and as an associate of government.
MGNREGA data entry work.
G2E services (Government to enterprise)
The guiding principles of Sahaj's CSC initiative are as
Enterprises like Water Board, electricity are controlled follows:
by the governments and should react quickly to the
government policies. Policy enforcements, security and •Catering to the rural population.
auditing (for accountability) are the biggest challenges. •Making G2C as well as B2C services available right at
the door step of the rural populace.
Objective of Sahaj
•Reducing intermediaries in the delivery of the
Srei Sahaj e-Village Limited, a subsidiary of Srei government services.
Infrastructure Finance Limited, was incorporated in
•Bridging the economic and digital divide between
May, 2007, as a Special Purpose Vehicle to function as
urban and rural India
an SCA under the CSC scheme. Today, in terms of
volume, Sahaj is the largest SCA as it has been mandated •Reducing the time and money spent by the rural
(through an open competitive bidding process) to roll population in the acquisition of services.
out more than 28,000 of the total 10,00,00 CSCs •Assist the government in bringing about greater
targeted to be set up under the CSC scheme. Sahaj has efficiency and transparency in the delivery of
already established a strong network of more than government services.
24,000 CSCs across the six states of Assam, Bihar, •Empowering the rural population by making available
Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal IT based channels for easy access to information.
covering 107 districts spread over 1,386 blocks. More
than 16,000 of these centres are connected through V- In creating this amazing network, which is the largest of
sat, broadband, data cards etc. to its 'State of Art', Level 3 its kind in the area of IT in the whole world, Sahaj has
data centre located in Kolkata. created not only a platform of delivery of Government to
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 10
Recycled materials can return to the marketplace in as little as 30 days.

13. Citizen Services (G2C) as well as Business to Citizen incurred is quite high as it includes travelling expense,
(B2C) services, but has ushered in an entrepreneurial food expense, cost on account of loss of income for the
revolution in rural India as each of its CSC is owned and number of
managed by a Village Level Entrepreneur (VLE). In working days
creating over 24, 000 CSCs, Sahaj has created an equal invested,
number of entrepreneurs who are increasingly and other
becoming friends, philosophers and guides of the rural incidental
citizens. If CSCs are the cornerstones of economic expenses
change, the VLEs are acting as catalysts of social change. add up to a
Although the CSCs were supposed to be centers for the h u g e
delivery of government services under NeGP only a few
, a m o u n t
G2C services covering a very limited number of districts often beyond the paying capacity of a rural citizen. As
are being routed through Sahaj CSCs currently. Although per the study conducted, an average citizen spends
these services are still in the nascent stage but they have more than Rs.109 to avail these essential government
been able to make a significant contribution to lives of services from the Tehsil as compared to the mere
the rural populace. amount of Rs 25 through the Sahaj CSCs. The CSC saves
both, time and money, which can easily be utilized more
productively for some other important priority.
Few of the case studies as discussed will
Till date more than 4, 00,000 certificates have been
entail the key benefits derived through the
issued from the month of April Dec'11 providing a
G2C services. financial saving of approximately 3.28 crores to the
common man, other than the mental and physical relief
Case study : e-district service in Uttar Pradesh for availing these services through the nearby common
In the 3 districts of Uttar Pradesh, already six service centres.
government services are being delivered through the Following are the details of the distribution of the
CSCs which include income; birth, death; caste; services.
domicile and handicapped certificates. A study
conducted by Sahaj has shown that an average distance Case Study : G2C services Bihar
a citizen has to travel for the e-district service is as little as
3.86 kilometers as compared to Tehsils where a citizen “When sparkle becomes fire and enlightens the world,
has to travel more than 18 kilometers and the response there comes the hope for the era which brings revolution
time of the services through CSC is less than seven days to change the world”
as compared to fifteen days taken at the Tehsil's office. This sparkle twinkled first in a small district of Bihar,
A rural Indian citizen would normally spend a good Jehanabad, which has shown a new pathway for the roll
out of G2C Services at local level with an opportunity for
a good revenue generation. In view of the fact that large
number of works such as MNREGA data entry, FCI report
scanning/mailing, IAY photography etc. of the
government is regulated by the District Administration
under the various functional department co-
coordinating and getting these orders to be executed by
the VLEs is a mammoth task. One of such Herculean
initiatives was taken by the district team of Jehanabad.
They started building a good rapport with the VLEs to
understand their skill set and area of expertise and then
strategically started following up with the District
amount of money on availing an essential government Administration for the work order. Their sheer
service like obtaining a Birth Certificate. The cost perseverance and communication with the
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 11
The safest place to be when a tornado hits is underground.

14. administration helped them in getting the work order for Sahaj also participated in the bid for MNREGA work in
MNREGA data entry and FCI report scanning work. the Bhojpur district of Bihar and got the work order for 6
blocks. Presently, work has already commenced in the 6
The local district officials visited various CSC locations to
blocks involving 24 VLEs.
check the feasibility as well as viability of these centers to
provide government services and at every step the Sahaj A unique initiative Team Bihar
team and their VLEs proved themselves competent.
They made the District Administration feel that the CSCs Election Webcasting in Bihar
are the windows where a large number of services could
be facilitated and completed in a successful manner and
on time.
Positive feedback and a satisfactory report from the
Jehanabad district team and the VLEs lead the District
Administration to rely on Srei Sahaj to become a
government partner in the successful facilitation of work
by doing the task like MNREGA data entry. The Sahaj
team also proved that by believing them, the District
Administration was not wrong. Involvement of the Sahaj
VLEs in the data entry work (both present and back-log),
resulted Jehanabad to be among the top district of the
state to complete the data entry of work on time. Since the day Sahaj came into existence, and the day we
started functioning; we started with the spirit that we
would serve the society even in the remotest corner of
Mr. Vivek Anand,
rural area by providing them all those facilities which is
Village Gopal Ganj Bajar,
far from their reach in spite of being in the era of IT &
Ghosi Block, Jehanabad,
Bihar Communication. We took the promise that we would
also facilitate the government in all kind of service
Like any other VLE with the delivery and work whenever wherever
hope of getting good revenue desired/required. With the similar spirit we started our
& social prestige by Journey in Bihar.
establishing a Sahaj CSC, Mr. Vivek Anand, started his
career as a SAHAJ VLE. Vivek was so passionate for this With various initiatives, Srei Sahaj continued to show its
work that he left his job for setting up a CSC. Though initial presence and relevance for the scheme to Government
unavailability of G2C Services affected his business & Department and citizens. To conduct a free and fair
hopes but now with the MGNREGA data entry work he has Assembly Election in a peaceful manner was one of
started achieving what he dreamt of. He is a household biggest challenge for the District Administration. In
name in his locality and due to availability of G2C services, pursuance of the same, the administration was looking
customers also trust him to be reliable. Not only socially
but economically as well, this service has given his business
a boost in terms of revenue generation and cross selling.
Only by data entry work in the past 6 months, he has
generated revenue of Rs 10,000 for himself.
Details of MNREGA data Entry work
The MNREGA Data Entry work is being successfully
carried on by the Sahaj employees in the Jehanabad
district since June, 2011. This has helped the District
Administration to complete the data entry work on time.
Presently it is being done in all the 7 blocks of
Jehanabad.
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 12
A catfish has about 100,000 taste

15. towards the agency/partner to support them for the made the revenue model even more complex and
same. Srei Sahaj again proved its mettle by standing by challenging. While innovative solutions have been
the administration and worked with full dedication devised to overcome infrastructural constraints there are
during the Assembly Elections. other impediments which continue to pose a serious
The District Administration gave training to the VLEs and threat to the CSC scheme over which Sahaj has no
also helped them in related software installation. The live control.
webcast was conducted from the booths with the Delay in roll out of G2C services is one such constraint.
Slow pace of routing of G2C services is, perhaps, the
State Ongoing service Upcoming service
· Grievance Redressal, e – District in · Health MIS through SAHAJ
biggest threat to the CSC scheme as the entire model was
Sonitpur & Goalpara, CSCs developed based on the understanding that all
Assam · NREGA Job Card Preparation · E – Filing of VAT/ CST
work through SAHAJ CSCs,
Government services will be brought to the door-step of
· Social Welfare Services each villager through these centres, bridging the urban
· NREGA data entry work in · E – Filing of VAT/ CST
Jehanabad & Bhojpur, through SAHAJ CSCs, and rural digital divide and consequently reducing the
· BSFC report Scanning work in · Health MIS through SAHAJ economic divide. Another casualty of this is the
Jehanabad & Arwal, CSCs,
Bihar
· PDS coupon Scanning work · SNP Anganwadi Photography important underlying objective of NeGP to deliver
work under ICDS,
essential government services and programmes through
· e – Nagrik in Jehanabad & e –
District in Nalanda a transparent IT enabled platform so as to reduce manual
· Revision of Electoral roll & EPIC · Health MIS submission through
preparation SAHAJ CSCs,
intervention and thereby corruption and leakages
· e – Payment of VAT/CST hitherto associated with delivery of Government
Odisha through SAHAJ CSCs,
· Social Welfare Services,
schemes and programmes.
· E – payment of Commercial
Tax Future of G2C Services
· e – District in Krishnagiri through · Electoral roll registration
Govt. Portal service Being the largest partner of government unavailability/
Tamil Nadu · Land records through Govt. Portal · PRIASoft training to PRI
representatives,
limited availability of G2C Services is a major issue of
· Health MIS submission concern for Srei Sahaj e Village Limited. This is due to the
· e – District in Rae Bareli, Sitapur · Social Welfare Services,
& Gorakhpur, · Health MIS submission,
fact that the G2C services are considered as a major
· PRIASoft training to PRI · E – Filing of Vat/ CST footfall driver at the CSCs. But it takes great efforts in
Uttar Pradesh representatives,
· PRIASoft data entry work, bringing these services smoothly to the rural customers in
· Commercial tax the existing system.
· Land records
The Government of India, recently, has received a loan
involvement of 1,358 VLEs and 68 employees of the IT amount of 150 million USD for the NeGP project from
department of Sahaj. The work of the Election the World Bank. In the deliverables, the government has
Webcasting, a first of its kind in India, was completed committed to the World Bank to launch 1,000 e Services
successfully by Sahaj and its VLEs with continuous and 130 PPP based e Services (56 at present) by 2012
cooperation from the District Administration. 13. The key areas to be focused by the government are:
health, education, skill upgradation, safety and security
Challenges faced and possible solutions and mobile service.
In less than four years, Sahaj has been successful in rolling With inputs from:
out a huge network of nearly 24,000 CSCs across 6 states Mr.Gaurav Loomba and Ms. Namrata Tyagi
of India. While it has been a very fascinating journey, Sahaj- Delhi Team
Sahaj has faced innumerable challenges at each step
some of which persist till date.
The infrastructural constraints like absence or
unpredictable power supply in rural areas and
inadequate connectivity solutions have been daunting.
We have, however, managed to overcome these
constraints by deploying of generators and V-sats but
these solutions have proved to be expensive and have
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 13
Gorillas can catch human colds and other illnesses.

16. Valentine's Day:
Capacity Building's Diary
a myth or just another reason to celebrate?
Valentine's Day is a joyous festival which stands for love and
romance. On February 14 every year this festival is celebrated
across the globe. The festival is intended to commemorate the
martyrdom of St Valentine, a Christian Saint. However, the religious
significance of the festival has diminished and today Valentine's Day
is a global phenomenon celebrated by people who belong to
different ages and races. This only invokes a lot of interest about the
history of Valentine's Day. How it evolved over the ages?
One of the interesting facts about the origin of this day is that there
were several early Christian martyrs bearing the name of
“Valentine”! Until 1969 eleven Valentine's Days were recognized
by the Christian Church. The Valentines who are traditionally
honoured on February 14th are Valentine of Rome and the
Valentine of Terni. Valentine of Rome was a Roman priest who was
martyred on AD 269 and was buried on Via Flaminia. Valentine of
Terni was the bishop of Interamna around AD 197 and was killed
Paromita Bhattacharya during the rule of Emperor Aurilean. He was also buried on Via
VP - Capacity Building,Sahaj Flaminia though at a separate location than that of Saint Valentine.
Another legend goes that a saint called Valentine sent 'Valentine'
greeting to a young girl while in prison. It is said that before his death he sent her a letter where he signed 'From your
Valentine”.
There are a number of legends regarding Saint Valentine but one thing is evident-Valentine was a person who was
heroic, sympathetic and romantic.
There is a widespread belief that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to remember the anniversary of
Valentine's death. Others believe that the Christian church decided to celebrate the festival in the middle of February in
a bid to Christianize the pagan Luprecalia celebrations.
As the century drew to a close written letters were replaced by printed cards. In America exchange of hand made
Valentines started in the early 1700s. Esther A. Howland was the first person to sell mass produced valentines in America
in the 1840s. The oldest known Valentine Card is on display at the British Museum.
How is it Celebrated “Today”?
In present day world Valentine's Day is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm all around the globe. The markets catch the
Valentine's Day fever days before the festival with the shops selling flowers, cards and other romantic gifts wearing a
festive look. Special Valentine's Day gifts like hearts, rose, cards, cupid and jewellery are in huge demand. In different
countries it is the time of the year when people go in for a shopping spree.
In India also Valentine's Day has gradually gone on to become a big festival with people going in for widespread
shopping. Valentine's Day cards are the best sellers followed by special gifts for men like shirts, perfumes and wallets and
great gifts for women like jewellery, jewellery boxes, showpieces and soft toys. Online shopping is much in vogue
nowadays.
In modern days Valentine's Day is not only restricted in exchanging gifts between romantic couples. It is a day to
celebrate love and people wish their friends, siblings, teachers or any other special person in their lives -'Happy
Valentine's Day on the auspicious day of 14th February!'
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 14
Ford motor company indicates that 75% of every vehicle is

17. Government rolls out 97,439 CSCs:
Rural News Bulletin
The Department of IT has rolled out 97,439 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in 33 states and union territories. The
ministry said that the government has a proposal to set up additional 1.5 lakh Bharat Nirman Common Service
Centres i.e. to have one CSC in each panchayat in whole of rural India. The ministry has also added four new
Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) - education, health, PDS and posts under the National e-Governance plan (NeGP)
taking the total number of MMPs under NeGP to 31. The ministry has also operationalize 29 SWANs (state wide
area network) while the State Data Centres (SDC) have been made operational in 16 states. Recently, the union
cabinet approved Electronic Delivery of Services (EDS) Bill provisioning mandatory delivery of all public services in
e-mode in the next five years. e-District pilot project has gone live in 12 states and the guidelines for national rollout
of e-District MMP has also been finalized. The government has set up ICT infrastructure in more than 450 court
complexes during the current financial year.
Source: voicendata.ciol.com
Kisan Credit Cards To Double Up As Debit Cards:
The nearly 10 crore farmers who hold kisan credit cards (KCC) will soon be able to use their card as a deposit
account and a debit card. This will help the government scale up its financial inclusion plan quickly without relying
on bank accounts alone. The revamped card will have features of both credit card and deposit account.
Source: The Economic Times
Bengal Planning 50 Job Days Under MNREGA By March:
Accordinbg to State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, Subrata Mukherjee, the West Bengal government
has decided to increase the number of job-days under MNREGA from 19 days at present to 50 days within the
current financial year.
Source: IBN Live
$130 Million World Bank Aid For 300,000 Village Homes In NE India:
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors approved a US$130 million credit to finance the Government of
India's (GOI) efforts to empower rural communities in the growth-deficient North East (NE) region to improve their
livelihood opportunities. The North East Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP) seeks to support the rural poor,
especially women, unemployed youth and the severely disadvantaged, in four North Eastern states to improve their
standard of living by establishing sustainable community institutions and enhancing their livelihoods. The Vision
envisages using a partnership-approach with all relevant stakeholders to make interventions responsive to people's
needs and aspirations for a better quality of life. The NERLP will be implemented in eight districts of the four
participating states- Aizawl and Lunglei in Mizoram; Peren and Tuensang in Nagaland; South, West and 15
Panchayat wards of East District in Sikkim; and West and North Districts in Tripura. A separate activity for skills
development and job placement has thus been included in the project to ensure that such opportunities are
available to the rural poor.
Source: hillpost.in
Vocational Training For Rural Youth:
The George Telegraph Training Institute (GTTI) tied up with Srei Sahaj for the vocational training of rural youth in
order to make them suitably equipped for bagging a job in todays market. Through the programme, courses like
electronic and telecommunication engineering, computer hardware engineering, mobile and telephone
technician, audio video engineering and other similar vocational courses will be imparted with the help of e classes.
According to the association, Srei Sahaj will conduct an independent and un-biased online examination of the
students to enhance the value of the programmes by the GTTI. A joint certificate by Sahaj and the GTTI will also be
issued on the successful completion of the examination. They also plan to introduce other vocational courses like
web designing, skill development programme and speaking English courses so that the rural youth are able to make
a place for themselves in society.
Source: The Times of India
Compiled by : Deepti Punj, Sahaj - Delhi
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 15
An elephant's trunk can hold 2.5 gallons of water.

18. Relative Economics: Public Finance
Sahajites Writing Desk
Often on the road, we see a lot
of examples of public ventures
which have dramatically altered
the socio-economic landscape
of the place helping the local
public sustain and earn from
their community itself. An
example of the same would be
the road leading to Sirohi,
Rajasthan. Earlier this area was
notorious for looting incident of
passengers passing through that
route during night, basically
done by tribal people staying in
that area, who had nothing
better to do.
To d a y, t h e s c e n a r i o i s
completely changed; this is
because of growth of standard of
living , employment and
availability of basic needs
created by a cement factory in Pindwara. This development has made the entire location from backward to a developed
economy. This socio-economic growth is known as the effect of relative economics. Relative economics is always
human centric whereas absolute economic is money centric. The quote of teaching a man how to fish, instead of giving
him fish is highly relevant in understanding examples of successful public funding. The importance of public finance in
context of relative economics is to lift up the
citizens in the BPL (Below Poverty Line)
category to a certain level of prosperity.
Economic development could be through development of
Understanding Relative Economics: infrastructure in an area or it could be through the skills
development of the people in the area. Project Chanderiyaan
As Indian citizens and tax payers, we would is a good example of sustainable people development. This
like to understand public finance clearly, the town in rural Madhya Pradesh is well known for its beautiful
corpus available, its impact on society and saris which embellished with the richness of weaving evolved
problems associated with disbursement of over a few centuries and a very exotic representation of the
fund. skill of the weavers. Unfortunately, due to rapid urbanization
• Under the Tenth Five Year Plan, the and development of new technologies, more than 3000
Government has allocated ₨424,839 weaving families in this town are struggling to sustain their
Crore in different development livelihoods. On further probing the economic scenario of the
investment on infrastructure plans, rural town was found to generate over ₨65 crore per annum, the
empowerment schemes for different weaving families got around ₨30,000 per family every year –
subsidies and grants. Often these funds making them look at other parallel work opportunities. The
don’t reach to the target population due to lack of finance, knowledge and modern skills left the weavers
complex distribution system of to be exploited by the master weavers, who had the control
government agencies and the wealth. Digital Empowerment Foundation along with
the Government of India worked on Project Chanderiyaan
• Objective of investment planning of the
and this brought in the modern means of weaving, faster
Government of India on various schemes is
produce, easier marketability and higher financial gains to the
to raise standard of living of its APL & BPL
weavers.
population and to provide basic needs of
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 16
Atlantic salmon can jump as high as 4.5 meters out of the

19. the its citizens. However while designing this socio-economic structure often the human element gets sidetracked and
the focus solely stays money centric.
Public finance is the revenue and expenditure of public authorities. The purview of public finance is considered to be
threefold -
(1) Efficient allocation of resources
(2) Distribution of income
(3) Macroeconomic stabilization
Public Finance: Objectives and Issues
The objectives of Public Finance involves both correction and development:
• Employment of people in BPL
• Removing Inequalities of Income
The example quoted at the beginning of
• Fighting Social Stigmas like Child Employment, Alcoholisms, this article of the cement unit in
Crime etc Rajasthan, which empowered tribal
• Improvement of Nutrition and Public Health population to work, earn and contribute
The Primary Issue in public finance is that often in the cycle of Economy to the economy could be one example of
successful private funding. This
- Society - Work - Economy, the BPL population is not in the scheme of
structure of financing can be used for
things and so the people neither gain the benefits, nor add to the
making effective structure of public
economy. In this approach, benefit derived from regular economy or
financing.
government initiatives/ schemes, does not reach to the bottom of the
pyramid. This creates a gap of inequality between rich and poor class.
A better way to utilize public finance would be to have a larger cycle of
Economy -BPL - Society - Work - Economy. By doing so, there would be significant reductionin percentage of the BPL
population and an increase of Per Capita Income of the BPL population and maybe in the larger scheme of things - sharing of
wealth amongst a larger percentage of population (for example through increase of land and other asset ownership amongst
ex BPL population).
Since the Census doesn’t capture the growth of this segment, we would need to add filters on understanding the movement
of income and expenditure amongst the BPL population in India. Through this, we would also be able to understand the
impact of Public funding on the BPL population far more accurately than now.
Examples of Sustainable Economic Development
The important aspect to ponder in the study of Relative Economics is the measurement of success.
The indicators used for measurement of economic growth and increase prosperity needs a change. Some of the indicators
used are more of macro in nature which overlooks the micro prospective of growth measurement. It is essential for
economists to include the measurement for the assessment of public finance initiatives undertaken by the Government of
India.
If Public and Private Sector work hand in hand at creating opportunities for the BPL category to move out of the bracket,
they could then gain from the opportunities of the new larger markets where they could ply their goods and services making
this a win-win situation.
By Hemant Kothari (EA to the CEO)
and Pradeep Kumar
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 17
The name “Vaseline” is a combination of the German
word wasser and the Greek word elaion.

20. Another Side Of The Notion
Sahajites Writing Desk
Maliya Halt comes after the
local train to Tarakeshwar
crosses Nalikul in Hooghly.
The urban landscape slowly
fades away after
Sheoraphuli Junction as
greenery intensifies.
Agricultural fields, meadows
with infinite horizon and
sporadic signs of dwelling
can be seen in plenty. As you
get down at Maliya Halt, a
30 seconds stoppage, you
are sure to be struck by the
humbleness of the station. It
comprises of two platforms,
one half built ticket counter
and a few temporary tea
stalls here and there.
Beyond these – on both the
sides – nothing can be seen
except endless green fields,
which, of course, change
their complexions in
harmony with the seasons. Then, you are needed to cross the railway tracks and take the Kuchcha road which vanishes
somewhere in the horizon.
I found Arjun Ghosh standing with his bicycle at the beginning of this road. I had informed him about my possible visit
the previous night and had also confirmed it in that very morning. I was greeted with a simple but honest smile. The man
is about 40 years old, 5 feet 6 inches high, thinly built, but strong enough to protect himself from the inevitable exposure
to nature's brutality. What attracted me were his sharp expressive eyes glistening with a common man's intelligence
which is undoubtedly, a better alternative to wisdom when daily struggle is the concern. The man led me through
vegetable growing fields and finally the road, which at first seemed to be endless, came to a diversion. We took the left
path and abruptly ended our journey after half an hour of walking in the midst of a bitter gourd field.
“This is my field”, said Arjun babu, grinning as he made an eye to eye to signal to a man who had suddenly appeared
from underneath the thicket. The man, as Arjun babu introduced, happened to be his younger brother Krishna Ghosh.
The younger Ghosh is a man of my age. He brought us two jute bags and laid them on field for us to sit. Arjun babu, on
the way, had proposed that we could sit and talk in his home; but I had purposefully turned down the invitation as
people like Arjun Ghosh are more open for discussion when they are placed upon the field – that is where they belong.
Moreover, if you accept their invitation to warm residences, you will, in a way also accept your vulnerability to the
natural hostility that a mid December north wind holds during afternoons. My insisting to go to the field brought out the
real shine on the man. It was a salutation to his world.
We sat down on the jute bags and I started interviewing him. My purpose was limited to take a product feedback from
him, but what I discovered is a gold mine; an experience worthy to be shared among all of us who, generally carry a fixed
notion about the agrarian mass of Bengal. Arjun babu's appearance will never tell you how great an entrepreneur he is.
As we went on discussing things and sharing ideas, he mentioned his visits to Kolkata Doordarshan and Akashvani
Sahaj Setu • February 2012 • Page 18
Approximately 70 percent of the Earth is covered with water. Only 1
percent of the water is drinkable.

21. studios. He has taken part in
several television and radio
programs which are directed to
progressive farmers. He receives
numerous calls from all parts of
India asking him for advices.
Without having any science
degree Arjun Ghosh is a well
known figure among many
eminent agriculturists of our
state. He is known for his
innovations of new cultivation
techniques, which adds to his
repertoire of being the first
successful farmer in S.R.I.
cultivation of paddy in the entire
Hooghly district. As directed by
his elder brother, Krishna uplifted
some bitter gourd plants and I
noticed some plastic bags hanging underneath them from a thin wire. Arjun babu smiled, “This is one of my new
experiments. I am trying to grow brinjals in plastic bags, making them pest attack proof and thereby bring down the input
cost. After all, this is not only my field, this is my laboratory!” I asked him how he learned all these. He said, “I read all
magazines and books that publish latest trends in agriculture. I have studied up to class X only, but I think that is enough
education for making a man able to read and write”, he quipped. He added, “I also get help from the ADO Saheb. He is a
regular visitor to my field. We share our views with each other. I also learn from other farmers who call me for help. If I am
not open to problems how will I invent solutions?” I looked at this man. He stands against our generalized idea of a Bengali
farmer – a skeptic figure unwilling to go for new cultivation techniques, always complaining about his financial issues and,
indulge in country spirit during the evening. It is not to say that issues are false or unjustified, but Arjun Ghosh stands out to
show that there are people who dare to think beyond that, and, to our surprise, are well able to ponder over the situation.
It was Arjun babu who first told me about a very unique way to earn money, which is, perhaps, the first example of agri-
tourism in Hooghly. His cultivation field is used by Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalay (BCKV) and television channels as
an ideal site. Students in teams visit his field to conjure practical knowledge whereas TV channels shoot agricultural
programs there. Arjun babu, as a return earns a little extra money without giving any labor. He is a tech savvy man who uses
a 'QWERTY' keypad mobile phone and types SMS using his both thumbs. He has an Internet connection at home and with
the help of his son, who is a high school student, he has learned to receive and send emails. All these can never be read
from his simple shirt, muffler, pajamas and Hawaii Chappals. Above everything, the hearty behavior and humanitarian
expressions – which, I suppose, are the true essences of rural Bengal – have not left Arjun Ghosh despite his close
connection with the city people.
He filled my bag with 5-6 bitter gourds grown in his field and said, “Check out the taste. It is a guarantee from my side.” He
saved my contact number on his mobile handset and said as he bade good bye to me, “I shall call you. I am not like other
friends who tend to forget.” This promise, for your kind information, has been religiously kept by him followed by my
Mr. Sarnath Mukherjee
Assistant Manager
Strategy & Agri-Business
Sahaj Setu • February 2012• Page 19
The Earth is the most dense planet five times denser than water, while Saturn is the least dense.