Baran, Rajasthan

Baran, carved out of Kota city, is highly populated with Sahariyas tribe and a group highly vulnerable to exploitation. The district has 1235 villages represented by 214 Village Panchayats. At Baran district, Sankalp Samaj Seva Sanstha, a Rajasthan based non-profit organization, is strengthening livelihoods of citizens by conducting various human development activities like Community Awareness & Social-Support Campaigns, Women & Youth Empowerment, Pollution Prevention and Control, Educational Development, and Water Conservation & Harvesting.

Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) has successfully completed the deployment of wireless network in Baran district of Rajasthan. Under the second phase of W4C (Wireless for Communities) programme, DEF established 35 point-to-point nodes, covering 35 kilometers of the region.

The district is highly populated with Sahariyas tribe and a group highly vulnerable to exploitation. The district has 1235 villages represented by 214 panchayats (local council bodies). At Baran district, DEF with support from Sankalp Samaj Seva Sanstha and Intel has already established its Community Information Resource Centre (CIRC) at Bhanwargarh in Baran in 2007. Later on, Sankalp has implemented two more CIRCs at Shahbad and Kunjer Blocks, located in Baran district. Although, these centres were connected through internet but facing the issue of inadequate internet connectivity. To address the requirement of uninterrupted connectivity, DEF has established 35 point-to-point nodes for a relay station that covers maximum 35 kms and minimum 10 kms. The network provides wireless connectivity at 7 night schools-cum-libraries and 8 cluster centres (each cluster centre covers 8-10 villages). Thus, these centres cover in-total around 95 villages of the district.

The Wireless for Communities (W4C) project is a joint initiative of the Internet Society & Digital Empowerment Foundation. In the first phase of the project, DEF has established and deployed wireless mesh network at Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh.