Ginjo Thakur Gaon

GinjoThakurGaon is a sleepy village 38 kms from Ranchi capital of eastern state of Jharkhand, India where DEF in association with Intel has established Community Information Resource Centre. Its population is approx. 3500 and it is home to 400 families. The economic condition of the villagers is not very sound with just about average income of approx. 2000 to 2500 per month per family. The village holds haats twice a week i.e on Mondays and Thursdays where everybody from nearby villages too congregates and buys household stuffs. Otherwise, the nearby main vegetable bazaar for GTG is at village Barho. The village houses 2 schools a primary (having 150 students) and a high school (having 400 students). About 50 villagers have done their graduation. The village also boasts of a hospital in addition to a nursing home where immunization facility is avaialble. In short, a quiet place not unlike other villages of India which is very much in need of socio-economic development and we believe that CIRC would play its part in hastening the process of the place in due course. So this venture is not only about GinjoThakurGaon but an important milestone in the inclusive development of the region mainly through the ICT route.

Community Information Resource Centres owe its origin to the rapid expansion of Information communication Technology in our lives of late visible particularly in big cities. It has drastically changed the whole daily routines perhaps for ever. But these air of change has yet to reach Indian villages where most of them live. To take the new technology to the villages, community information resource centres were thought of and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) engaged in bridging the digital divide, took it upon itself to take this movement to villages as it nicely fits in into the scheme of things. Intel Foundation also saw some merit in our thinking and came along. So CIRCs can be said to serve information, communication and supplementary social and commercial services that befit local communities’ educational, informational, economic needs.

The first unit of the Community Information Resource Centre has been physically set up at Ginjo Thakur Gaon, Burmu Block, Ranchi in Jharkhand. CIRC Ginjo Thakur Gaon has initiated the following programmes:

• Skill Builder Programme
• English Relay Programme
• Self Help Group formation
• Medical Assistance Programme
• Veterinary Assistance Programme
• Cloth painting, embroidery and stitching
• ICT Services