Intel to reach out to 650,000 villages in India

If you are a farmer in a remote village in any part of the country, you have access to the web and internet to find out about your crop. You can also watch your favourite movie and also learn computers.

By K G Vasuki

Jaipur, July 25 : If you are a farmer in a remote village in any part of the country, you have access to the web and internet to find out about your crop. You can also watch your favourite movie and also learn computers.

In a significant development to bridge the urban-rural digital divide, global chipmaker Intel Corporation has signed an MoU with Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd. (IL and FS) to take Personal Computers (PC) accessibility and education to over 650,000 villages in India.

Announcing this in a media conclave here, the Intel South Asia Director (Marketing) John McClure has said that Intel signed an MoU as part of the World Ahead Programme (WAP), adding that "Intel will work with IL and FS to address capacity building along with technology in villages across India."

IL and FS is the national level service agency of the Community Service Centres (CSC) project under the Department of Information Technology.

As part of this MoU, IL and FS will draw the framework and standards for CSCs while Intel will provide education consultancy to identify Information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled education programs which can be offered to the village community.

In addition to this, Intel will provide advisory services for wireless implementation towards a broadband program.

As part of its WAP, Intel has facilitated the setting up of about 5,000 CSCs on a pilot basis in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Karnataka, Haryana and West Bengal over last 12 months.

ANI