Infosys BPO Limited CEO and Managing Director Amitabh Chaudhry and State Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty CEO T Vijaya Kumar signed an MoU in this regard in the presence of Chief Minister K Rosaiah, here. "The first such BPO centre will be set up in the next six weeks which will provide a testing ground for this model. The capital expenditure and other details will be worked out subsequently," Chaudhry said adding that all the 22 districts would have one BPO each.

"Over 1,000 people would get direct employment through the rural BPO centers in the next 12-15 months. Statistics suggest that direct employment generates 1.4 times indirect employment as well," he added. Noting that Andhra Pradesh would be the first state where Infosys would be setting such facilities, Chaudhary said, "We are in talks with some other states as well for similar ventures but I can't disclose the names at this stage".

Chaudhary said Infosys would be partnering with Desicrew Solutions Pvt Ltd and Ruralshores Business Services for executing the initiative in the state. Desicrew already has many rural BPO centres while Ruralshores is a leading rural BPO provider in the country. Meanwhile, the Rural Development Department has also signed an MoU with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for implementing the 'Abhayahastham' co-contributory pension scheme for members of women self-help groups.

Kumar and LIC Managing Director Thomas Mathew signed the MoU. The scheme is slated to be launched from November 1, Andhra Pradesh Formation Day, and aimed to benefit 1.25 crore members of over nine lakh SHGs. SERP will be the nodal agency for implementing the pension scheme while LIC will be the fund manager.