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| Events organised by
MSSRF - October 2004 |
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Programme of launching
the Indian Space Research Organization
- M S Swaminathan Research Foundation |
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| Village Resource Centres
[VRC] |
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No.PPR:D155:2004 |
| October
18 2004 |
| Prime Minister
Inaugurates Village Resource Centre (VRC)
Project |
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 The
Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh inaugurated
today (October 18, 2004), the Village Resource
Centre (VRC) Project established jointly
by the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) and the M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation (MSSRF). This satellite based
project, ISRO-MSSRF-VRC, aims for digital
connectivity to remote villages for providing
multiple services such as telemedicine,
tele-education and remote sensing applications
through a single window. |
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| Inaugurating the VRC
Project via INSAT link from New Delhi, the
Prime Minister said that "since independence,
with the great vision of Pandit Jawaharlal
Nehru, India has made significant progress
in science and technology and set up several
institutions of repute. He added that no
other institution has brought greater laurels
as the Department of Space which has become
a role model for other institutions to emulate.
He said that unless we take the benefits
of science and technology to the villages,
we cannot get rid of poverty, ignorance
and diseases. The setting up of VRCs is
yet another saga of adventure that has been
taken up by ISRO with M S Swaminathan Research
Foundation to benefit the rural society.
He commended ISRO and MSSRF for this important
endeavour. |
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 Mr
Prithviraj Chawan, Minister of State in
PMO and Mr T K A Madhavan Nair, Chairman,
ISRO briefed the Prime Minister on the salient
features of the VRCs. A live demonstration
showing interaction between the VRCs located
at Thiruvaiyuru in Tanjavur District, Thankatchimadam
in Ramanathapuram District and Sempatti
in Dindigal District, MSSRF at Chennai and
Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research
Centre at Chennai was held during the inaugural
function. |
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| The VRC concept has
been evolved by ISRO and implemented through
a partnership with MSSRF by integrating
ISRO's capabilities in satellite communications
and satellite based earth observation to
disseminate a variety of services emanating
from the space systems and other Information
Technology tools to address the changing
and critical needs of rural communities.
The VRC is a totally interactive VSAT (Very
Small Aperture Terminal) based network.
To start with, the network consists of four
nodes located at Thiruvaiyuru, Thankatchimadam,
Sempatti and Chennai. The central node is
located at the MSSRF office in Chennai.
The network uses one of the Extended C-band
transponders of the INSAT-3A satellite.
Users located at one node of this network
can fully interact with others located at
another node through video and audio links.
Each of the four nodes can be further extended
using other technologies like Wi-Fi, Wireless
and Optical Fibre. These extensions may
serve as local clusters around the areas
where the VRC is located. |
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 The
information provided will be in the form
of geo-referenced land record, natural resources,
suitable sites for drinking water as well
as sites for recharging to replenish ground
water, water harvesting, wastelands that
can be reclaimed, rural employment creation,
watershed, environment, infrastructure,
alternate cropping pattern, and so on. By
suitably blending the information derived
from earth observation satellites with ground
derived and weather related information,
locale-specific community advisory services
can be provided. Community based vulnerability
and risk related information, provision
of timely early warning and dissemination
of severe weather related information can
lead to reliable disaster management support
at the village level. |
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| VRCs can
also provide a variety of services like
tele-education, telemedicine, online decision
support, interactive farmers' advisory services,
tele-fishery, e-governance services, weather
services and water management. By providing
tele-education services, the VRCs act as
virtual community centric learning centres.
At the same time, VRCs will provide connectivity
to speciality hospitals thus bringing the
services of expert doctors closer to the
villages. |
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 In
addition, VRCs will facilitate access to
spatial information on important subjects
like land use/land cover, soil and ground
water prospects which can enable the farmers
to get support in taking important decisions
based on their query. Besides, VRCs will
enable online interaction between the local
farmers and agricultural scientists. Fishermen
can obtain information on sea state and
wave heights. Provision of information on
many governmental schemes, location and
farming system specific action plans based
on weather, community specific advice on
soil and water conservation are the other
services rendered by VRCs. |
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| Thus, ISRO-MSSRF
VRC project strives to promote a need based
single window delivery system for providing
services in the areas of education, health,
nutrition, weather, environment, agriculture
and livelihoods to the rural population
to empower them to face challenges. |
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| Visit :
ISRO
MSSRF Brochure |
| Visit :
Prime
Ministers Speech |
| Visit :
Prof
M.S.Swaminathan's Speech |
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