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ndia’s economy grew at the rate of 8.9% in the April-June quarter, compared to a year ago, according to the recently published report of the Reserve Bank of India. This growth is much higher than most analysts had estimated and is a strong indicator of the direction in which India’s economy is headed.

    However, a large segment of the country’s population, as high as 400 million people, is either illiterate or forced to live below the poverty line and is not in a position to derive the benefits of the booming economy. The youth, which might be literate and educated, is not in a position to participate in the growing economy due to lack of adequate skills. 

    If the benefits are to reach the poorest of the poor, residing in the remotest parts of this country, sustainable development technologies need to be deployed on a very large scale.

    Information and Communication Technology (ICT) serves as an excellent platform for sustainable development action. Recognising this, the Development Alternatives Group (DA) launched TARAhaat Information and Marketing Services Limited (TARAhaat), in 2001. 

   TARAhaat’s mission as a social enterprise is to create and deploy an enterprise model for the creation of sustainable enterprises on a large scale.

    Its innovation lies in its model, as well as the products and services it offers. TARAhaat operates through a network of 150 franchised community and business centres - TARAkendras, where the bulk of the revenues reside with the franchisee. The franchisees are typically young entrepreneurs who manage their telecentres, with active support from TARAhaat’s field offices.  Each TARAkendra, in turn, provides direct employment to three to six youth.

 The five essential elements of TARAhaat’s business model are:

n     A decentralised network of commercially-run franchised telecentres

n     Strong public-private partnerships forged with government, business and civil society

n     A rich menu of services and products to create robust revenue streams 

n     Solid support systems in the form of training and capacity building, technical, marketing and management guidance

n     An approach to product and service development which is market driven and focused on identifying areas of value. 

 The portfolio of products and services delivers both social and commercial goods which include: 

n    A computer-based literacy programme, TARA Akshar to teach individuals to read and write in 30 days

n    Enterprise Development and Support Services to equip individuals to start, and manage businesses

n    A range of educational and vocational courses to meet the demands of the present day job market

n   A diverse portfolio of cost-effective, appropriate products and services such as General Insurance, Loan and Investment            service, lighting products and smokeless chullahs

n    Expert advisory services for farmers and entrepreneurs

n    E-governance services that provide rural access to  government machinery 

n    Relevant, local information through the internet portal www.tarahaat.com

n    An email service in eleven local languages.

     TARAhaat is now in an aggressive expansion mode and its network has grown over 400.0% over the last twelve months.  The TARAkendra Network is in nearly 150 locations spread across eight states. Its partnerships with organisations such as Microsoft, ICICI, Philips, Shell Foundation, USHA International, ISRO, NISG, UNDP, Samsung, OWSA and a large number of Civil Society Organisations provide a strong vehicle for the development of additional products and services. 

     In India, as in many other countries, the key strategy to achieving sustainable development must be through the creation of jobs that produce, at a minimum, the goods and services required to fulfil everyone’s basic needs. By providing people with some degree of financial security through creating  small, local, eco-efficient businesses- sustainable enterprises; we can empower them within their communities and make development a far more inclusive process.

     The TARAhaat enterprise model has demonstrated a unique and successful approach to harnessing ICT as a tool to deliver sustainable development by the creation of hundreds of livelihoods. q

Ashok Khosla

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