IT for Change (ITfC) is a non-profit organisation located in Bangalore, India. We believe that the ongoing information and communication technology for development (ICTD) approaches seldom transcend the efficiency parameters, and fail to integrate fundamental ethical cornerstones of development, like social justice, equity and participation. ITfC envisions a society capable of, and comfortable with, innovative and effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a tool to further goals of progressive social change.
ITfC partners with Mahila Samakhya Karnataka (MSK) – an established grassroots initiative of the Government of India for empowering socially and economically disadvantaged women in rural areas through self-help group activity – on Mahiti Manthana. Mahiti Manthana is aimed at developing a comprehensive ICT-based resource-support strategy for various activities of women’s self-help groups or sanghas and their federations. The project is being piloted in three talukas of Mysore district.
Mahiti Manthana employs a multi-pronged approach to help improve the information and communication processes of sangha women. The project components include: Radio – Kelu Sakhi ('Listen, My Friend'), a weekly radio programme catering to sangha women across different villages; Video – locally and iteratively produced inexpensive videos covering a wide range of development and gender issues; and Telecentres - or Namma Mahiti Kendras ('Our Information Centres') which are oriented to strengthening community information processes and building linkages with external institutions. The telecentres are managed by a committee of women members, who ensure that activities and services are geared towards meeting the information needs and development priorities of the village community.
The components converge in the sangha shale (‘classroom of the collective’), wherein the telecentre is not only a physical space but also becomes the hub for collective listening to, and discussion and feedback on, radio broadcasts; and collective viewing of, and discussion and knowledge generation on, video-based content. The sangha shale process builds a collective and democratic space for learning and reflection that transcend the limitations of literacy and the lack of relevant, print-media based development content. By bringing audio and visual media into the direct control of women's groups and by establishing Namma Mahiti Kendras as a social infrastructure, Mahiti Manthana attempts to strengthen women's appropriation of technology processes such that they promote women's leadership over critical information resources and networks.
