SoochnaPreneur
Providing citizen services at the doorstep through new-age rural entrepreneurs since 2016
As much as 67 per cent of India’s population lives in rural India. This population is largely dependent on government services for some of their most basic needs and livelihood. Soochnapreneur is a rural entrepreneurship-based project initiated by DEF in partnership with Qualcomm under it’s wireless reach programme to empower the youth in the villages of India to sustain their livelihood by providing information to those living in information darkness. Under this project, SoochnaPreneurs (Information Entrepreneurs) have been identified and equipped with an Android app that holds a catalogue of welfare schemes, with comprehensive information on entitlements.
Realising the need to serve India’s rural, remote and marginalised population with relevant information about governments services, schemes and entitlements in a timely manner, DEF designed a mobile application called MeraApp as part of this project. Developed using cutting edge technology, the Android-based app provides rural India’s vulnerable population with a catalogue of welfare schemes, with comprehensive information on entitlements, in an effort to empower them with access to rights and benefits. Users, assisted by Soochnapreneurs, can either view the information categorised by provinces and welfare area or enter their socio-economic details to allow the app to display a list of schemes that suits the information fed into it.
A bilingual app that runs on online and offline modes, MeraApp has been envisioned as a platform to empower rural and remote populations with access to information and bring them closer to their rightful entitlements, thus bridging the digital divide and encouraging social and financial inclusion. Further, the app also allows users to submit grievances directed at various government portals and track the status of the complaint.
Read more about the project on www.soochnapreneur.in
Status:
Ongoing
Impact:
- 100 SoochnaPreneurs trained in information-based entrepreneurship
- 30,496 persons registered under various schemes and entitlements or provided digital service
- 4,104 beneficiaries facilitated with access to with public schemes and entitlements
- 100 rural women SoochnaPreneurs join the bandwagon in Phase II of the project
