Need
Across ~700,000 villages in India, elected representatives, government officials and civil society organizations, at the grassroots level, use limited and outdated data, along with inaccurate assumptions, to deliver services to citizens. This leads to an increase in power imbalance and disparity in well-being outcomes. The proliferation of cheap smartphones, affordable internet and open source software provides an opportunity to leverage technology to address this issue.
Additionally, PRI (Panchayati Raj Institutions) forums like the Gram Sabha are not able to ensure accountability in governance from the bureaucracy, partly contributed to by the lack of actionable data related to development. Even elected representatives like the ward members do not have access to the comparative picture of development in their ward with respect to the Panchayat.
Solution
D@GR is a product of our focussed research in the area of participatory governance. D@GR helps to decentralize problem solving and decision making (https://youtu.be/O_176LCbQSk). It uses mobiles to capture data on welfare indicators across 12 thematic areas (like Agriculture, Energy, Drinking water, etc). The data is then analysed and presented, through easy to understand dashboards in vernacular language, in real time. These dashboards enable decision makers to prioritize welfare activities.
The cross-thematic nature of the data helps the PRI members address issues cutting across themes. Multiple iterations over time help compare progress across geographies (spatial) and time (temporal). This analysis is also of interest to grassroots organizations working in the same context.
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