COMMUNITY INFORMATION RESOURCE CENTRE

An initiative of

VISION

Creating information-empowered, equitable communities by providing digital access to information, knowledge and online services

MISSION

Building connected public spaces through community participation to reach the unreached and ensure digital inclusion

VALUES

Promoting diversity, inclusivity, sustainability and protecting environment, heritage and culture besides respect for natural resources are cross cutting ethos and values of all CIRCs

CIRCs to work as

Community driven

bottom-up public spaces

Which seek to bridge

information & access divide

By creating information empowered communities

And facilitating

digital inclusion

(esp. underserved/m

arginalized)

WHY we do?WHAT we do?HOW we do?

at CIRCs

To bridge the digital divide

Connecting marginalized communities to

the mainstream through ICT tools

Bringing digital, internet &citizen

services to the rural

communities at nominal cost

Information access points in

remotest, underserved regions of the

country

Capacitating and training rural

youth, communities in

basic & employable ICT

skills

Information dissemination

on welfare schemes & govt. entitlements,

etc…

Awareness on social issues pertaining to

health, women, rights &

entitlements etc..

Knowledge generation,

culture preservation

with the help of ICT tools

Entrepreneurship & business

development of rural/social enterprises,

CBOs, individuals etc..

Andhra Pradesh

Assam

Bihar

Chattisgarh

Delhi

Gujrat

Haryana

*Himachal Pradesh

*Jammu & Kashmir

Jharkhand

State-wise Distribution of CIRCs

Andhra Pradesh

AssamBihar

ChattisgarhDelhi

GujratHaryana

*Himachal Pradesh*Jammu & Kashmir

JharkhandKarnataka

Madhya PradeshMaharashtra

MeghalayaOdisha

*PondicherryRajashthan

*Tamil NaduTelangana

TripuraUttar Pradesh

UttarakhandWest Bengal

65

1422

31

21

114

20444

133

23

24

84

State-wise Distribution of CIRCs

No. of Centres

Where are we working?

*140 centres in 23 States ( includes running & proposed centres both)

Andhra PradeshAssam

BiharChattisgarh

DelhiGujrat

Haryana*Himachal Pradesh*Jammu & Kashmir

JharkhandKarnataka

Madhya PradeshMaharashtra

MeghalayaOdisha

*PondicherryRajashthan

*Tamil NaduTelangana

TripuraUttar Pradesh

UttarakhandWest Bengal

45

112

13

91

13444

131

22

12

62

2

3

1

1

2

1

2

3

7

1

2

1

1

2

2

2

Running & Proposed CIRCs

Running Fresh Set up /Proposed

*108 running centres in 20 states * 33 Fresh/ Proposed set ups in 20 States (includes 3 new states)

Bihar

Madhya Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Jharkhand

Maharashtra

Odisha

Rajashthan

Telangana

West Bengal

Chattisgarh

Gujrat

Meghalaya

Uttarakhand

Andhra Pradesh

Assam

Haryana

*Himachal Pradesh

*Jammu & Kashmir

Karnataka

*Tamil Nadu

Tripura

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

32

20

31

19

10

17

10

7

9

12

5

2

2

4

4

3

2

2

2

2

2

2

1

1

1

1

Backward DistrictsCIRC Coverage

CIRC Coverage in Backward Districts (BRGF)

Activities undertaken by different

CIRCs at different

levels depending upon the

community need

Digital Literacy(Active

across all centres) Information

dissemination

Entrepreneurship

training & Skill building

Capacity building & Training

Community Engagement & Awareness

(Active across all centres)

Community Radio

e-Governance

Digitization of Panchayat

Digital Services(Active

across all centres)

SERVICES

Digital Services

Internet browsing

Documents printing

Scanning

Photocopying

Photo Printing

Information Services

Information dissemination on welfare schemes,

rights& entitlements etc..

Filling RTI applications

Aadhar/Voter/Pan card enrollments

Filling & filing online applications/forms

Citizen Services

Bill payment services

Online booking of Railway/Bus/Air

tickets

wi-fi access

Business development

Website development

Social Media services/mark

eting

Digitization & business processes

development

How we have been able to create widespread socio -cultural and impact through our CIRCs?

Our CIRCs serve as community space for social togetherness. No biases (gender, caste, class, region, religion) are entertained. Our CIRCs are community learning centres.

Equipped community individuals with basic ICT skills spread across different age groups coming from different communities including marginalized.

Increased access to information and rights & entitlements in rural (neglected) communities (households)- for e.g- Bheels, Sehriya communities etc..

Empowered rural women by providing digital platform , equipping them with basic ICT skills, taught them how to access information from internet and its usage in everyday life.

Created and mentored women entrepreneurs who are now managing their own centres- for e.g- Reena Sehriya from Baran, Shahana from Shivpuri , Sunita from Ranchi (she is now working with NRHM).

Created a significant majority of informed and empowered citizens. Our CIRCs are also serving as a local knowledge generation and preservation centre

for e.g-Bhapang artists from Mungaska. Imparted basic digital literacy to unemployed youth. A lot of them are now running

their own small businesses for e.g- Mini digital services shop in Odisha, Rajasthan, MP,UP and many more.

Opened multiple opportunities of learning & growth for community women, girls , children ,youth and elderlies who have never been to school or have never seen a computer.

Digital literates created their online presence (facebook, email, twitter etc..) Knowledge transfer of digital skills by students coming to CIRCs to their family,

friends, peers and communities at large Trained ‘first generation digital literates ‘ in many families

Programme Achievements

Digital Literacy Trained 26,000 Digital literates since 2007

Information Services 25,000 citizens availed information services

Digital Literacy100 000 people have availed digital services

Livelihood Generation Opportunities

Enabled livelihood opportunities for 8000 individuals

Gender & ICT

Trained 100 000 women in digital literacy under HWGO programme

Digitization & Business Processes Development

Digitally enabled 3 public libraries

Community Engagement Trained 3000 individuals under MCGY

programme

No. of CIRCs0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

2014

2013

2012

20112010

2009

2008

3 8 14 20 27 33 39 92 140

2015

2007

Growth of CIRCs since 2007

Partnership &

Collaboration

Community

Engagement

Resource & Knowledge

support

Capacity Building

Training & Services

Rural Business Solutions

How we engage with communities and stakeholders

Towards sustainability model

Infrastructure

Sourced or

Funded

Basic CIRC

Model 1

Model 2Infrastructure-Sourced or Funded

= Entrepreneu

rs

Local Partner/s

Entrepreneurship model

Model 3 Infrastructure-

Sourced or

Funded

Local Partner/

s

Entrepreneur

Cooperative

model

Model 4

Model 1 + Model 2 +Model 3 + Model 4 = Model 5 i.e Social Enterprise

Infrastructure-

Sourced or Funded

Local Partner/s

Entrepreneur

Cooperative/s

Federation model

PARTNERS

Future Vision for CIRCs

CIRCs

To operate as Rural

BPO Hardware &software assembling centre

Mini Libraries integrated in each

CIRC

Skill develop

ment centre

Knowledge centre

Community owned, communit

y led centre

Cyber Cafe

Educational

institute

Mini IT hub

Contact Us

Digital Empowerment FoundationHouse No. 44, 2nd & 3rd Floor (Next to Naraina IIT Academy)

Kalu Sarai, (Near IIT Flyover)New Delhi – 110016

Tel: 91-11-26532786 / Fax: 91-11-26532787Email : def@defindia.net, siddiqui@defindia.net

URL: www.circindia.org