LifeLines India (Soochna Se Samadhan)
Soochna Se Samadhan (LifeLines India) is an initiative that was started with an objective to help marginalised communities improve their quality of life, by providing them with access to critical information, using voice as the primary means of knowledge dissemination and exchange.
Soochna Se Samadhan provides knowledge connectivity, content and capability to rural communities in their local language, using the easiest and the most available means of communication - "the telephone". This is supported by sophisticated internet technology configured in the backend.
In the initial phase, the LifeLines India service was started in the agri-business sector, where it has been providing essential farm information to rural farming communities, presently in 700 villages across 4 states in India - Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Farmers call the service and register their agri-related queries using the LifeLines' IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System). Agri-experts then answer these queries within 24 hours, after which the farmers can retrieve their answers by dialing the service again. Thus the service links-up farmers with agri-experts through the medium of the phone, and provides the farmers with topical, agri-information which otherwise would not have been as easily accessible.
Since its launch in September 2006, the service has been gaining significantly in its popularity as is evident in its increasing spread and usage across India. This in turn reflects the benefits, the service has been able to bring about for farmers, whether in terms of better productivity, improved income or even increased awareness for them.
The success of the LifeLines service in the agriculture sector has encouraged its extension to the education sector as well. Accordingly the LifeLines - Education service has now been initiated to provide critical academic support to teachers in rural India, starting with the Bardhaman district in West Bengal.
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