The Little Town that’s Catching Up

In my first ever trip to the Deccan Plateau, in the recently elapsed Holi vacations, I visited a small place (with a population of only about a three-quarters of a Lakh) called Baramati for some conference. Primarily an agricultural town, famous for its sugarcane farming, Baramati is quietly catching up to the bigger cities in terms of computer literacy. To a first time visitor Baramati would immediately come across as an endearing place with its peaceful surroundings and cleanliness, not to mention roads that a metro would be envious of. I was impressed by the small town instantly but I had no idea that it was pioneering a digital revolution. So when a chatty journalist claimed that almost everyone here knows what a computer is and atleast half the population knows how to use it, I couldn’t help but laugh(under my breath, off-course). Though I was convinced that it was an exaggeration and a very elaborate one at that, I decided to test his hypothesis by asking a road sweeper if he knew what a computer is, he said off course he did, a computer is a machine that plays music and gives print-outs!

The conference in Baramati was on the benefits of information and communication technology to communities with bigwigs from Microsoft, Intel etc. participating. Initially, I thought that a rural town was an odd location to host it, especially since Pune was just a hundred kilometers away. But once I got to know more about Baramati, I realized that it was the ideal location for the conference as it is a shining example of a community embracing IT to improve their daily lives.

The local hospital in Baramati practices telemedicine. Every day it sends hundreds of Mega Bytes of data via broadband internet to hospitals in Bengaluru and Mumbai and receives diagnoses within minutes. There is a community computer center that employs computer savvy locals to provide services like railway reservation, airline reservation, resume building, typing in English and several other languages, computerized Janam-Kundalis and loads more. Microsoft runs a program here called “Unlimited Potential” where it teaches local housewives to use the computer. Intel too has been particularly generous in offering buses equipped with computers serving as mobile computer training centers for school children. Their community radio is as modern as any private radio and is run by locals. When I asked the woman who manages the broadcasts at the radio center what happens if there is a problem with the computers, she casually replied that we can handle 80% of the problems ourselves and we can always call one of the boys from the nearby engineering college to help us out.

Baramati is the home-town and constituency of Sharad Pawar(yes, the BCCI Chairman), who the people claim is responsible for the development of Baramati. If that is true, I can’t help but admire his work. If only every other politician was as devoted to his constituency India would be a much better place.