**‘E-KRISHI’: PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN DELIVERING
FARMER SUPPORT SERVICES - AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE IN
MICRO ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Dr.P.Mohanan & Dr.Santhosh. P. Thampi
Department of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Calicut, Kerala, India
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Abstract
Kerala, the southern state of Indian Union, initiated a massive e-governance programme in
2002. As part of the programme, the state launched an ambitious e-literacy project called
Akshaya. It employed a public-private participation model for delivery of services. The pilot
project was implemented in Malappuram, one of the 14 districts of Kerala. Later, the project
was rolled out across the state. E-krishi is another project of the state to enable the farmers of
the state to exploit the potential that Information and communication technologies offer.
Leapfrogging on Akshaya project, the e-Krishi project, piloted in the district of Malappuram
again, has achieved tremendous growth. A large number of Akshaya entrepreneurs became eKrishi entrepreneurs. E-krishi has opened many new challenges for these e-entrepreneurs.
The project has generated a lot of enthusiasm across the state but has to go a long way in
delivering intended results to farmers and e-entrepreneurs.
Key Words : e-entrepreneur, e-literacy, e-Krishi, public-private participation, rural
development.
1.0 Introduction
Kerala, one of the southern states of Indian Union, launched an ambitious e-governance
programme in 2002. The Department of Information Technology of the state implemented a
pilot project on e-literacy, named Akshaya, in the district of Malappuram. The project
adopted a public-private participation model for its implementation. The state set up the IT
network infrastructure and the entrepreneurs took care of the service delivery end. Akshaya
had at one time 615 entrepreneurs who had set up their access points called ‘e-kendras’ in the
district of Malappuram. But the number has come down to 279 in 2008. After successful
implementation of the project in Malappuram district, the project was extended to the
remaining districts of the state. There are a little over 2000 Akshaya Centres in the state now.
Akshaya project has created broad band network across the state. It forms a base for
providing value-added e-services to the citizens. E-krishi is an innovative project of the state
to enable the farmers of the state to exploit the potential of Information and communication
technologies. It was first introduced in the district of Malappuram. Of the 279 Akshaya
entrepreneurs in the district, 140 have already converted their e-centres into e-krishi centres
by early 2008.
1.1 Back Ground - Project Akshaya
Project Akshaya was launched on November 18, 2002 to 'bridge the digital divide' by
enabling tens of thousands of ordinary state citizens to access relevant information in the
local language over the Internet. In the first phase, the project set the objective of imparting e1
literacy to at least one member from each of the 6.4 million families in the state. The IT
Department expects Akshaya to reduce significantly the divide between "information haves"
and "information have-nots" and to help in reaching the benefits of IT to the common man
(P.Mohanan, 2005).
The project had set the following objectives:
set up a network of 6000 information centres in the state
•
create about 50,000 employment opportunities, and,
•
generate investment opportunities to the tune of USD 125 million. (USD 1 = INR 40).
The project was designed to leverage Kerala's unique strengths: active community
organizations, progressive social framework, advanced telecom infrastructure and widespread media penetration. The Akshaya project, conceived as a public-private partnership
(PPP), was implemented with active involvement of the local self governing institutions. The
e-literacy campaign is the foundation on which the state seeks to bridge the digital divide in
the state. The underlying objective of the campaign is to remove the "fear of the unknown"
that common people have about technology in general and computers in particular.
Akshaya Project is implemented in two phases: Akshaya and AkshayaNext. The first phase,
Akshaya, was focussed on imparting e-literacy to the common people and the second phase
involved launching full shaft of e-governance servicesi. In the second phase of the project, the
state plans to create state-wide IT network infrastructure based on wireless technology. The
Akshaya entrepreneurs are to meet part of the capital cost of setting up this infrastructure and
pay for its use. The initial cost of setting up the wireless infrastructure is to be shared by the
entrepreneurs and the state in ratio of 50:50. In addition, each entrepreneur is to pay monthly
rent of around Rs.1000 for using the infrastructure.
Once the people are introduced to the immense possibilities of ICT in phase I, the next phase,
AkshayaNext, envisages making facilities available to the people for exploiting the
technology for everyday use. The focus here is to ensure a viable, sustainable service delivery
mechanism for the citizens of the state through Akshaya centres.
Training Centre
Akshaya
Centre
Hub
Communication
Information Kiosk
e-governance cell
e-transaction centre
Fig.1: Business model of AkshayaNext
Over the last five and a half years, Akshaya project has built up a comprehensive digital
network throughout the state. There are a little over 2000 Akshaya Centres in the state now.
The project is unique in the sense that the state took upon itself the work of designing and
implementing the whole network, educating and training entrepreneurs and also extended
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assistance to the entrepreneurs. The state set up and made available broad band connectivity
to the access points, Akshaya kendras.
Fig 2: Akshaya gateway
The Akshaya kendras offer two types of services: training programmes and online services.
The training programmes include Smart office, Insight, e-vidhya, Intel@Learn Programme,
Arabic typing tutor, Learn and Speak English course, Medical Transcription course,
Psychometric
profiling
course
and
entrepreneurs’
orientation
programme
(http://210.236.212/akshaya). Online services include e-payment, e-ticketing, service records
digitisation, land records digitisation etc. More than half a million people have been provided
with basic computer skills and around 65% of the beneficiaries under this program are
women” (UNDP).
1.2 E-Krishi Project
e-Krishi is a spin off project. Malappuram district was again selected for pilot
implementation. The project was a joint initiative of the Information Technology Mission of
the state with a few other organisations for enabling agriculturists to access information about
agribusiness. The other major contributors include Indian Institute of Information
Technology and Management, Kerala, UNDP, National Institute of Smart Government,
Hyderabad and the Department of Agriculture of the state.
Agriculture contributes to less than a third to the national income of the country. Yet over
55% of the people in India depend on agriculture for livelihood. Farmers live in villages.
Rural India presents an altogether different picture- one of deprivation, low income and poor
quality of life. India will have to mainstream its rural population to emerge as an economic
superpower in the next few decades. Information and communication technologies can bridge
the gap between rural and urban India to a considerable extent. E-Krishi is an imaginative and
very bold initiative in that direction. It envisions the coming together of aggressive IT
entrepreneurs and conservative agri-entrepreneurs who constitute the farming communities.
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The e-Krishi project addresses the existing gap in agriculture information flow and
transaction management. The project envisages facilitating and enabling farmers and other
stakeholders through agri-business centres to interact with agricultural service providers in
the private, government and non government sectors. The project provides a web-based
solution enabling the small and medium farmers as well as owners of large landholdings to
access information and to trade produces. Piloted in Malappuram with the participation of the
existing Akshaya e-Kendra Entrepreneurs, the project is getting extended to the remaining
districts of the state. The facilities and resources of Akshaya e-Kendras such as computers,
printers, scanners, cameras etc. and Intranet/Internet connectivity, already established
throughout the Malappuram District.
Fig 3: e-Krishi portal
The vision of the project is to ‘establish a connected farmers’ community throughout Kerala
which has access to information on market demand, price, good agricultural practices, quality
agricultural inputs supported by a technology enabled robust transaction platform that
facilitates offline activities’. It has put in place a web based platform ‘to meet the needs of
farmers for information, communication, transaction, payment and potential integration with
related services’. The e-Krishi portal, is a free site and contains information on a number of
topics related to agriculture including agricultural prices and trends. Please see Exhibit 1 for
more details on e-Krishi services.
The government of Kerala is all set to collaborate with the Multi Commodity Exchange of
India (MCX) and the National Spot Exchange for Agricultural Produce (NSEAP) to link
farmers with buyers and sellers on an electronic platform.
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After about four years of launching Akshaya project, the number of e-Kendras has come
down to nearly 279 in the Malappuram district in 2008. Of them, about 140 Akshaya centres
were re-designated as e-Krishi centres under the e-krishi project. These centres are provided
with books, CDs and other materials on agriculture. A portal has been set up for agriculturists
to enable them to access information and trade their produces. A toll free trade call centre is
set up to answer queries of farmers. A number of farmer communities have been set up to
organise farmers and identify and solve their problems. About 79 of such farmer communities
have already been formed. Please see Exhibit 2 for the expected benefits of e-Krishi project
in the state.
Fig.4: Technical Architecture of e-Krishi project.
Source: http://www.e-krishi.org/site/tech.asp
1.2.1 Facilities Available at e-Krishi Centres
e-Krishi centres are owned by entrepreneurs. They have invested on an average a little over
USD 6,400 (INR 250,000). Each centre has four to six computers with broad band
connectivity. In addition to web resources, each e-Krishi centre has CD library, e-Krishi
library and e-payment facility. They offer e-Krishi services to farmers and traders. Yet their
main source of income, even now, is from training programmes and DTP services. E-Vidya
(that is e-education) and e-payment facility are the other services offered by most of the eKrishi centres. e-Krishi centre runs campaigns for popularizing the e-Krishi initiative among
farmer community. They also provide data maintenance, directory listing, training and
content development services.
1.2.2 Revenue Model
Akshaya project concentrated on e-literacy and one member from each family was given
training in information technology. Each Akshaya e-centre was allotted around 1000 families.
The trainee pays a small fee of nearly USD 0.50 and local self governing bodies pay USD 3
to the Akshaya entrepreneur for short duration e-literacy training. This model ensured some
business for the Akshaya e-centres. But, revenue from e-literacy training is drying up and the
Akshaya entrepreneurs have to diversify into other areas like content development, e5
payment, digitization etc. e-Krishi project has a different revenue model. The farmers have to
register with one of the e-Krishi centres for which they have to pay a fee. E-Krishi
entrepreneurs continue to provide other services as the new project does not earn them
adequate revenue. ‘e-Kendra’ agri-business centres is designed to operate on self sustaining
basis from the income generated from administration fees, transaction charges, advertising
income, charges for directory listing, training fees collected etc. The exact fees charges etc.
shall be evolved on the basis of market acceptance. The common sources of revenue to the eKrishi entrepreneurs are:
•
•
•
Training income: Each e-Krishi centre offers training programmes in information
technology. Fees are collected for training depending on type and length of training.
Service charges. e-Krishi centres also provide other services like e-payment facility
for which they get a fee for remittances. For more details on e-pay services please see
Exhibit 3.
Farmer registration charges. e-Centres charge a fee of USD 0.25 (INR10) per farmer
for posting farmer related data at the e-Krishi portal.
Fig.5: Revenue streams and expense heads of e-Krishi centres
Source: http://www.e-krishi.org/site/biz.asp
1.3 Methodology
About 100 Akshaya entrepreneurs were interviewed for the study. The sample was randomly
drawn from the list of Akshaya entrepreneurs, of them 40 were e-Krishi entrepreneurs as
well. The Akshaya entrepreneurs were approached with a schedule to collect data. This was
followed by a brainstorming session and interaction with experts in the field. The analysis,
findings and the suggestions are based on the information from experts and the primary data
collected from the Akshaya and e-Krishi entrepreneurs. Five point Likert scale was used in
measuring the responses. Scoring is 1 for the lowest and 5 for the highest response for the
attribute.
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1.4 Profile of Respondents and Their e-Krishi Centres
The e-Krishi study concentrated on 40 e-Krishi entrepreneurs. The following table presents
information gathered from them about the e-Krishi project.
Table 1
Mean Number of Farmers Registered with the Respondents
Particulars
Number
Mean number of farmers registered through the e-krishi centre
215
Level of awareness among farmers about the e-krishi project (on a
2.53
five point scale)
Entrepreneurs’ perception about the level of acceptance of e-Krishi
2.63
by the farmers (on a five point scale)
Mean number of sellers (farmers) contacting the e-Krishi centre for
15.76
trading in a month
Mean number of buyers contacting the e-Krishi centre for trading in
2.33
a month
Mean months of experience of the entrepreneurs with e-Krishi
13.11
project
Mean Number of transactions per month
0.19
Mean number of farmers in the registered farmer Database of the e140.33
Krishi centre
Mean investment by the e-entrepreneur
USD 6400
Mean number of farmer members in farmer clubs (bhoomi clubs)
22.83
Mean area of space at the e-Krishi centre (carpet area in sq ft)
638
1.5 Items Dealt With For E-Krishi
Farmers have to register with the portal for transactions. The registered farmers can offer
their produces for sale through e-Krishi portal. Produces like coconut, paddy, vegetables,
rubber, banana, honey, areca nut, mussels, pepper, rice, oilseeds, tubers, fish, etc. are offered
for sale. The portal contains information about each registered farmer and what quantity he
can sell of each item.
Table 2
Extent of use of e-Krishi infrastructure, measured on a five point scale
Characteristic
Mean score
Information use
3.24
Transaction capability
2.43
Procurement of input
2.44
Opinion about the success rate of e-Krishi
3.40
A mean score of above three is in positive territory. So, e-Krishi project’s information use by
farmers is fairly good. What needs to be improved are e-transactions and e-procurement of
input. Yet, most e-entrepreneurs are confident about the long-term survival of the project.
Yet, most e-entrepreneurs are bullish about e-Krishi project and confident about its long-term
survival.
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1.6 Findings
The Akshaya project created IT literacy and awareness about the potential of ICT for rural
development. Akshaya as a brand is well known and trusted by people in the state of Kerala.
The local self governing bodies have supported it throughout. The state government is
backing it fully. All these favourable factors have created an environment for extending ICT
into other domains of development. Agriculture is certainly an area for creating big impact on
the lives of millions of people. e-Krishi is thus an innovative application of ICT for
supporting agriculturists with information and transaction processing capability. The project
is being extended to the remaining districts of the state of Kerala.
The e-Krishi project was started only two years ago. It is too early to judge the project. Yet
on an impassionate analysis, one can easily come to a conclusion that its growth has been
impressive and it continues to convert more people into e-Krishi enthusiasts. Farmers who are
reeling under poor prices and lack of demand are in a better position to decide what the
market needs and raise crops that are much in demand. The project brings together many
agencies, public and private, to serve the interests of farmers. The crop yield in India ranges
from 30 to 50% of the highest yield registered in other countries. When the farm output sets
production record, farm prices crash and when yield is less, they get low income. Both ways,
the farmers tend to lose. Hence, there is a huge potential for ICT based intervention in
agriculture for raising yield and producing what the market needs. E-Krishi has demonstrated
in a small way what the farmers can gain from ICT.
e-entrepreneurs have fanned out into the rural areas of Malappuram district, to begin with.
They are working closely with farmers in improving their agricultural practices. They have
formed farmer clubs called bhoomi clubs (bhoomi means land) and are discussing ways of
exploiting the information content and transaction platform of e-Krishi web portal. The
project has generated a new awakening among farmers and rural people about the
possibilities of ICT based entrepreneurship for rural development.
But, the project has not succeeded in achieving the grand objectives yet. The following
shortcomings of the project may be addressed early for further consolidation in this area.
• Lack of proper direction and action plan
The e-Krishi project lacks proper direction. The Akshaya entrepreneurs who joined the
project are still unclear about their role in the project.
• Lack of fit
The skill set for Akshaya project and e-Krishi project varies substantially. Instead of training
people who come to the e-centres, e-Krishi entrepreneurs have to go to the farmers and work
with them to make it viable. But, most entrepreneurs are not willing to change their modus
operandi.
• Low entrepreneurial spirit
The e-Krishi project requires the entrepreneurs to constantly innovate, take risk and lead a
group of farmers. The farmers have to be properly educated on a continuous basis. Poor
entrepreneurship orientation of farmers and aversion to take much risk on the part f eentrepreneurs are a stumbling block to the project.
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• High risk and low income
E-Krishi does not generate enough income for the entrepreneurs. They get some income from
training and it is declining. Now they have to support e-Krishi project that generates very
little income for them. The project is having potential for more revenue generation in future.
But, survival during the transition is a major concern for the e-entrepreneurs.
• Conflict between self interest and social service
There is a strong self interest in ensuring survival of their business. Training has been the
major source of revenue to the entrepreneurs. Now, they have to take up e-Krishi initiative as
a social service. But, they see capital erosion on one side and the push for social service on
the other which leaves a conflict within them. They are torn between the two projects.
Strategically, they do not have cash cows to meet the promotion expenses of the new project.
• Low volume
Supply of agricultural produces is not adequate. Buyers need quantity. It is difficult to ensure
reasonable volume as only small volume of produces is available locally. They produce a
variety of agricultural crops, but each one in small quantities.
• High overall cost for procurers
Transaction cost is low for buyers per transaction. But for a given quantity of a produce, the
buyers have to collect and aggregate produces from multiple sellers who are scattered all
over. This makes the purchase unviable.
• e-Krishi portal is primarily an information portal
The e-Krishi portal is basically an information portal and not a business portal. The portal
carries information of interest to farmers and information about farmers for buyers.
• Bye passing e-Krishi entrepreneurs
The e-Krishi entrepreneurs just post data of farmers at the e-Krishi portal. The buyers can
deal directly with the farmers once they get the contact information of farmers from the site.
It might benefit the farmers. But the e-entrepreneurs who sweat out for organising farmers
and promoting the project are not compensated for the work.
• Fear of tax
The farmers are not willing to transact business through the portal due to fear of any levy by
the state or central government based on the value of transactions.
• Seasonality of crops
The crops are seasonal. Hence, business volume is limited and uneven.
• Labour situation in the state
Labour is in short supply in the state for manual work. Farm labour is imported from other
states. But the risk of price fluctuations and uncertainty about harvest etc. are serious
concerns to farmers.
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1.7 Suggestions
Lot of hope is pinned on the e-Krishi project. The problems of the project should be
overcome. The following suggestions are offered to make the project more vibrant and
effective.
• Organise more farmers’ clubs and activate them
Each e-Krishi centre shall organise farmers’ club and work closely with the farmers. Farmers
may not know how to use the information. So they may need help of officers from the Farm
Information Bureau, Department of Agriculture etc. The entrepreneurs can be a useful link
for the farmers with these officers.
• Change of Attitude
There is a need to plan agricultural activities a few months before each cropping season.
What the market needs is central to marketing. Instead of trying to sell what is produced, the
farmers must produce what the market needs. It calls for a major shift in the attitude of
farmers.
• Secure transaction portal
The portals have to be made user friendly for farmers and traders. The e-Krishi portal is
mostly an information portal now. It should support transactions. The farmers should be able
to transact business without any fear of security risk.
• Collective or contract farming to ensure volume
The procurers need volumes. Unless the farmers raise their volume of crop output, e-Krishi
will not have any substantial impact on farmers or e-entrepreneurs. Since farm holdings are
small, some kind of consolidation of holdings is required. Forming farmer cooperatives or
collective farms or even corporate farming may help in making agriculture viable by raising
the holding size leading to increased scale.
• Quality issues
Farmers need training and input to raise produces with uniform quality.
The retain chains are the latest to create huge impact on farm prices. But the retail firms want
fruits, vegetables and other produces to meet some standards so that they are consistent in
quality.
• Sustainability of e-Krishi centres.
e-entrepreneurs play a critical role in e-Krishi project. Unless the revenue model of e-Krishi
centres earns enough revenue for the e-entrepreneurs, the project’s sustainability is doubtful.
1.8 Conclusion
e-Krishi is certainly a brave and intelligent application of ICT for rural development. The
project generated a lot of interest and expectations from all quarters. It succeeded in setting
up a connected community of farmers. But it has to go a long way in enabling the farmers to
exploit the information available at the e-Krishi portal. The PPP model is quite appropriate
but for the private entrepreneurs it does not generate enough revenue. This constitutes a
serious challenge to the project’s survival in the medium term. The project has necessitated
the coming together of aggressive ICT entrepreneurs and conservative agri entrepreneurs to
jointly plan agricultural processes and marketing. This will result in desirable changes in
agriculture and rural development in the future.
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Exhibit 1
E-Krishi Project - Services Envisaged
(a) Information/ transaction/ payment platform like:
1) Who is buying?
Name, Address, Location Contact, Tel , Turnover/Stocking yard area
Crops dealt , Supply chain below (relationship), Partners (Relationship), Agriculture
Produce Collection points : Inspection point, pick up point.
2) Who is selling?
Name, Address, Contact, Tel , Acreage / nos cultivated/harvest by month/qtr , Crops dealt ,
Preferred Delivery point
3) Market prices
Updated Price by product/ by market
4) Buy & Sell Transaction Platform
Sell/buy offer - Transaction
Item/ Type / Qty / Quality (photo upload) / Delivery point -> Seller/Buyer
Buyer gets Panchayat/ block/ district level aggregation
Buyer’s bids giving Price & Validity date/ Seek inspection date &venue /Pick up date
&venue
Seller refer market prices & confirms/replies buyers advice
Close transaction offline, keep open until close
Expire by date as set date
5) Requests for Soil testing / Visit Scheduling of mobile units
Farmers Id, Sample No., Date, Plot Id
Sample Report –collection point/Date, Link
Vehicle# ,Date Location Id Date Time From time To Officer-in-charge
6) Requests for seeds/plantlets
Farmers Id, Request Id, Date, Plot Id, Soil Test Report Id, Crop, Seed choice/Plantlet choice,
Qty, Required by date, collection point, advances paid.
Distribution - activity
7) Request for clarification of technical doubts/ experts help
Farmer Id, Plot ID, Crop id, Issue-Category, Issue Title, Issue description-format
8) Applications to various schemes: Credits, subsidies
Farmer ID, Required docs, Office ID, Application -format
Office ID, Officer, Workflow
9) Information dissemination
News server
10) Contents bank
Best practices, Crop, Category, Archived Helpdesk Queries.
11) IT enabled Citizen Interface for access to Government Schemes
12) Value Added Services
Handholding , Good Agricultural Practices: preparation, planting, maintenance, harvest, post
harvest, Extension officer visit, Q&A , Expert guidance, Clinic facility, Harvest time care
Plant protection Mechanisms, Pesticides, Application guidelines w.r.t. age of plant/nature of
attack, Pesticide Sellers
Fertilizers, Application guidelines w.r.t. age of plant/nature of deficiency & requirement
regarding certification (JAS, EUREPGAP), Fertilizer Sellers, Options I have for organic
manure .
Agricultural equipment, Own or lease?, Collective ownership & scheduling, who is leasing?
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Schedule plucking/harvest, which warehouse & When? Self assessment of quality of my
produce, Grading centres & certification, Documentation I need to maintain / submit while
selling, Prices, Buyers, Decision support whether to hold goods or to sell now.
Sales contract, Venue/time/date of delivery, Logistics support, Payment
Loan, Insurance, Other support, Advance contract with buyers, Credit for goods purchased,
services availed Grants, Subsidies.
First steps... What should I do in farming area? (Info tips)
Agri Labour Bank, Vocational training for agricultural labour:
equipments/methodologies/pruning
List of Farmers agreeable for Contractual obligation, Draft Contracts, Contract Management
Exhibit 2
E-krishi – Expected Benefits
a. Benefits to member farmers
Access to warehouse, markets with prevailing price information
Access to schemes, subsidies, modern agricultural methods, best practices, soil testing,
seeds, plantlets, fertilizers, pest control
Facilities for grading agricultural produce and ensuring correct price for their produce
Logistics support, cost sharing possibilities
Access to micro credits
Agri Insurance support/faster claim processing
Access to Accounting practices, Documentation support
b. Benefits to member Agricultural Input Providers
Buyers/exporters to post their pick up quantities by date by market-venue/warehouse
Plan logistics of routes for collection of agri-produce in advance seeing the offer
quantities from farmers in various locations
Contact farmers producing any specific crop and confirm purchases in advance
facilitating better control over supplies.
Select farmers for producing any specific variety of crops on contractual basis
integrating supplies of seeds/plantlets, farm maintenance etc.
Easy access to customers, facility for systematic campaigning/ demonstrations
Efficient management of schemes/ programs
e- platform assisting in real time transactions.
c. Benefits to member Agricultural Activists, NGOs, Government organization
Informed decision making on policy issues
Facilitates Integrated approach
Dissemination of agri-based interventions becomes more structured and precise and
customized
Faster and larger reach to stakeholders is ensured due to networking
D. . Post implementation Scenario
The most significant differentiator of this proposal compared to other ICT enabling
agriculture interventions implemented elsewhere is that this initiative is built on the already
existing PPP model of Akshaya whose credibility has been established by the communities
themselves. Hence, the accessibility of the agri-business center and its ownership by the
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community is no longer a challenge. So, the benefits expected out of the project are almost
on an immediate basis. The other expected benefits are:
Increased yields convert non-performing agricultural assets into performing asset.
Empowering small farmers with real time information, collective bargain of prices for
his crops, agricultural engineering knowledge & advice that is customized for the
small farmer.
Facilitating institutional credit, performing agriculture support systems, Efficient and
cost effective logistics support.
Bringing in documentation practice in Agriculture confirming quality of produce
effecting in high value products.
Exhibit 3
Friends
FRIENDS (Fast Reliable Instant Efficient Network for Disbursement of Services) is a
single window ‘no queue’ integrated remittance centre where citizens have the opportunity
to pay utility payments to the Government under one roof at no extra cost. FRIENDS
Janasevanakendrams (meaning people’s service centre) are currently operational in all
district HQs of the State (http://210.212.236.212/akshaya/epayment.html).
Salient feature include:
Open from 9 am to 7 pm including all Sundays
Pleasant and comfortable ambience
Token Management system eliminates the need for queues
Railway reservation facilities available in three centres viz., Wayanad, Pathanamtitta and
Malappuram.
An average of 700-1000 people visit each centre every day
In 2004-2005 FRIENDS recorded a total number of 34, 00,182 transactions,
E-Pay Service
FRIENDS centre in Malappuram is coordinating the e-payment collection through
Akshaya Centres under a secured State Bank of India Online Bill payment platform.
Details of the project include:
An online system for collecting various taxes and fees due to the government
Introduced in the district of Malappuram in August 2004 as a public private
participation model
Over 150 Akshaya Centres in the district extend e-pay facility
Kerala State Electricity Board, Bharatiya Sanchar Nigam Limited bill payments are
accepted, more services to be added soon including University, Welfare Boards, Water
Authority etc
Facility for online updating of backend data
Public can check their payments online
Collection crossed INR 30 million with more than 300,000 transactions
All Akshaya Centres will be e-pay enabled shortly
Cash transfer through secure SBI bank bone
Payments to departments settled by FRIENDS Janasevanakendrams.
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1.9 References
1. Dr.P.Mohanan. “An Evaluation of Public-Private participation in E-Governance in
Kerala”, Abhigyan, April – June 2005, Vol...XXIII No.1.
2. http://210.236.212/akshaya
3. UNDP. Report, ‘The Akshaya Experience: Community Driven Local Entrepreneurs in
ICT Services’ Anita Gurumurthy, Parminder Jeet Singh, Gurumurthy Kasinathan.
4. http://210.212.236.212/akshaya/ekrishi.html
5. www.e-krishi.org
6. http://www.e-krishi.org/site/tech.asp
7. http://www.e-krishi.org/site/biz.asp
8. http://www.e-krishi.org/site/services.asp
9. http://www.e-krishi.org/site/benefits.asp
10. http://210.212.236.212/akshaya/epayment.html
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