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About LifeLines India (Soochna se Samadhan)
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Soochna se Samadhan sewa (LifeLines India) is an initiative that uses the power of voice to disseminate and exchange information among marginalised and rural communities in India, such that it helps in improving their quality of life. The service facilitates the provision of connectivity, content and capability via a phone-based service.
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How does it work?
The user dials the designated LifeLines number using a landline or mobile phone. The call first reaches the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) System of the service where the user is assisted by a voice menu to register his/her query. The query asked by the user is stored as a voice clip in the LifeLines' database server.
At the backend, a Knowledge Worker (KW), responsible for processing the queries, logs in to the application through the web interface, and views all the queries that have been registered in the system. Answers to these queries are first looked up in the system's FAQ database by the KW. If available in the database, the required answer is attached to the query in the form of a voice clip; else the query is forwarded by the Knowledge Worker to relevant experts for answer.
Once the query is answered by the expert, the LifeLines application alerts the knowledge worker. The KW then retrieves the answer from the expert and saves it as a voice clip in the FAQ database. This answer is then played back when the user calls the service for the answer to his query.
The user can also retrieve the answer in text format from his / her village information centre. Furthermore, the system also allows the users to send photographs along with their queries for the experts' opinion. Like for instance, farmers can send pictures of their crops and cattle when they ask queries.
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Implementation of the service:
The LifeLines India service is implemented through a network of volunteers who work at the field level.
These volunteers, known as Ek Duniya Fellows, work as the point of contact for using the LifeLines service and facilitate rural users to register their queries with the help of a mobile phone.
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LifeLines India is based on a versatile and dynamic application that can be customized and adopted locally for information sharing in a variety of sectors, like agriculture, education, health, registration and employment. In the first phase of implementation, the LifeLines service was initiated in the agriculture sector with much success as LifeLines Agriculture, to offer information services to the farming community in rural India.
Key Features of the LifeLines Agriculture service:
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Expert advice on integrated pest management (IPM) methods has helped farmers to improve their input efficiency
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Solutions are made available to farmers within 24 hours
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More than 50 different fields of agriculture and allied activities covered
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Complete chain of information from production to consumption, including information o
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- Farm inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides
- Funding schemes
- Government schemes on loans and subsidies
- Banking and insurance
- Market prices
- Region specific market information
- Agriculture news
- Organic farming
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