The headlines in India on the 26th April 2007 declared "India a trillion dollar economy", but does this headline really matter to more than 350 million Indians that cannot read or write? Probably not. Visiting rural India in a place (GPS data included with images) about 300 kms from Nagpur in Maharashtra state, and bordering with Madhya Pradesh State, one comes face to face with this reality. On an ICT evaluation visit, I was amazed to learn that most of the villages I visited had 100% illiteracy. All of them fall under this virtual line that we have drawn called "The Poverty Line". In other words living on an earning of under a dollar a day. The BPL (Below Poverty Line) Census in India is conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development at the beginning of each Five year Plan period. According to the survey and estimates, the number of people living below the poverty line (BPL) in the country continues to remain in the range of 220-230 million, while in terms of net percentage of population it has decreased. This suggests that the series of poverty alleviation programmes undertaken by the Government between 1993-94 and 2004-05 have had only a minimal impact on the real economic situation of a larger section of the population, according to the findings of the National Sample Survey (NSS). A visit to any of the villages shows the truth in this.

In August, 1995 The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed. It states that every state government shall within six months from the date of commencement of this Act, make a scheme for providing not less than one hundred days of guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in the rural areas scheme and whose adult members, by application, volunteer to do unskilled manual work. Ironically even to fill the form for this one needs to be literate. Even though billions rupees have been allocated and Governmental and NGOs have tried to help by offering assistance in this regards, the benefit does not seem to percolate down to all. Even this limited financial assistance has not reached everyone. On my visit to villages such as Banur, Pathakila, Pipalna and others I could see the levels of poverty and suffering. Some of the villages I visited get cut off from the rest of the civilization for nearly 3 months each year due to the monsoon season. Healthcare is poor and even the basic amenities like clean water are an ordeal.