Information and communication technology initiative at CSM

1. Background & Philosophy
   
   Loni-Pravara area – a drought prone, rural part of Ahmednagar district is faced with several developmental challenges, chief among them poverty, lack of access to small & marginal farmers to improve their productivity through scientific farming and sound marketing practices, knowledge divide of rural-urban medical practitioners, lack of access to quality medical & health care, increased cost of health care, transportation, developmental education, information gap and underutilization of government schemes due to lack of knowledge & access etc.
   
   Promoters of the “Pravara Initiative on Rural E-Health, Empowerment and Governance” believe in the potential of ICT as an effective tool to empower rural people to achieve sustainable health and development. Promoters are confident that connecting poor & rural communities with the vital knowledge, opportunities and access to quality medical care they need will improve their quality of life. Approach adopted was to integrate ICTs with the ongoing Integrated Rural Developmental Programs, with special emphasis on medical, health and agricultural needs of the area to add value and help underserved communities to articulate their needs, harness socio-economic, health opportunities and to influence public policy so that it is in consonance with the local realities. The Project endeavors to showcase how ICT can be effectively deployed to provide impetus to sustainable growth and health infrastructure to rural communities.
2. Aims & Objectives
   
   The multi-service community IT centers proposed under the Project “Pravara Initiative on E-Health, Empowerment and Governance”, aim to address the aforementioned challenges with the following objectives;
   
   • Integrate ICTs with the ongoing comprehensive developmental programmes to add value.
   • Help communities to articulate their needs, create demand for information & services, harness socio-economic, health opportunities and influence public policy so that it is in consonance with the local realities.
   • Improve access, delivery and quality of health care services at Rural Health Centers by connecting them to a tertiary care hospital.
   • Empower and serve the rural masses (farmers, women, students, drop-outs etc) by improving access to information, (developmental schemes), agricultural support to accelerate the socio-economic transformation in villages.
3. The Rural ICT Initiative
   
   “Pravara Initiative on Rural E-Health, Empowerment and Governance” is designed and implemented by the Pravara Medical Trust's Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences – Deemed University, with local community participation by involving the Gram Panchayats (infrastructural support).
   
   
   For more details about Rural ICT Initiative Please Click Here...

Networking

CSM has developed a strong network with the organization working in the field of the health and social development throughout the world. Some of the key collaboration of the CSM at regionl, national and international level are as follows.

Regional

1. Maharashtra State RCH Society, Mumbai
2. Maharashtra AIDS Control Society, Mumbai
3. Maharashtra Horticulture Board, Pune
4. District Rural Health Mission, Ahmednagar
5. District Rural Helath Mission, Aurangabad
6. Comprehensive Rural Health Project (CRHP), Jamkhed.
7. 400 Non Government Organizations (NGOs)
8. 500 Village Panchayats
9. 300 Community-based Organizations (CBO's)

National

1. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi
2. Ministry of Social Justice, Govt. of India, New Delhi
3. NABARD, Govt. of India, Mumbai
4. Association of Agricultural Medicine and Rural Health in India (AAMRHI)
5. Family Planning Association of India, Mumbai
6. Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Society of India (FOGSI), Loni Branch
7. Bharatiya Agro-Industries Foundation (BAIF), Pune

International

1. International Association of Agricultural Medicine and Rural Health, Japan
2. County Council of Osterogotland, Sweden
3. Linkoping University, Sweden
4. University of Skovde, Sweden
5. Karolinska Institute, Sweden
6. Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Sweden
7. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia
8. Pathfinder International, USA
9. Cupid Ltd, USA
10. Stina Berger Johansson Foundation, Sweden
11. University of Milano, Italy.
12. Greifswald University, Germany
13. University of El Bosque, Colombia
14. Hungarian Rural Health Association, Hungary