The Karnataka Government’s 800-kiosk ‘Nemmadi Telecentre’ project, initiated in September 2006 to help bridge the digital divide in rural Karnataka, has a job quota for differently abled citizens.
The Consortium of Comat Technologies, 3i Infotech and N-Logue, which was awarded the project, has made 754 of the targeted 800 rural telecentres fully operational and are awaiting the government's final nod on the location of the remaining 46.
Sudhanva Kimmane, Director (Karnataka) of Comat Technologies Pvt Ltd, told Deccan Herald that in addition to the 800 centres at the hobli level, “we are setting up 176 back offices at the taluk level. Each of these will be manned by four persons, one of whom will be a physically challenged person. Currently, nearly 5 per cent (40 people) of the project’s total workforce are physically challenged. Bringing these people into the mainstream is a part of our core strategy.”
The minimum qualification for the job is completion of II PUC. The final selection will be made after a written test and an interview. Mr Kimmane pointed out that one of the best Nemmadi centres is run at Hunsur by a person afflicted with polio.
And five of the 30 differently abled people referred by the Chief Minister under the Janata Darshan programme are working in these centres. To apply, contact Abdul Waheed Haris at 9880002144 or email your application to  hr_nemmadi@comat.com.
Power to people
A key “Government to Citizen” (G2C) initiative, services currently available at the telecentres are the most relevant ones such as handling land records, bill payments, issue of food coupons, electoral cards, caste and Income certificates, and approval of old age pension.
The vision of the project is to empower rural citizens and provide direct access to government services at their doorstep. Each of the telecentres will be fully equipped with state-of-the-art desktop computer systems and peripherals networked with the back offices.
In addition to this, the Education Department also proposes to use these rural telecentres for delivery of computer-aided education under the Centre’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme to primary and higher primary school children.
Similarly, the Agricultural Department will consider utilising these centres for delivery of information related to agriculture, prices of farm produce and availability of inputs like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.