Use of technology to effectively respond to a calamity -from perspective of the most marginalized women & girls

My story is about how technology certainly helped, but could do much more, to strengthen and democratize the response to the COVID-10 pandemic and consequent human calamity.  

A month and a half long lockdown in a country like India, where even in normal times millions survive by selling their hard labour everyday in exchange for a piddly daily wage, is a human calamity of extreme proportions. The following recommendations for use of technology in emergency response, need to be read keeping in mind that it is the women and girls who suffer the worst when basic needs are not met.  

I would begin by saying that it is our circle of social development workers, activists, funders, etc. who are truly using technology for the purspose of providing relief and other critical emergency responses. Technology has certainly helped us in Anubhuti, to carry out our disaster response:

• For one, I am nursing my months-old baby, and the fact that I could immediately get into round-the-clock planning and coordination which was necessary in this emergency, was only because of technology.


• Apps such as Zoom are helping us connect with our activist friends and funders.


• We are extensively using conference calls and whatsapp groups to train youth and other volunteers on ground in relief work.


• Whatsapp has really helped in getting data about people who need help. It is because of technology that we have till date collected data about and reached 1500 people of the nomadic and de-notified tribes (worst placed in the Indian socio-economic hierarchy) across 15 districts of Maharashtra state.


• My senior colleague's building was quarantined, and we still kept working at full force because she could coordinate everything on phone and whatsapp without needing to leave the house.


• Online banking, phone apps such as Google Pay, etc. are helping us reach families across a large geographical territory with direct bank transfers.


• We used platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to launch online awareness campaigns connecting with at least 10000 people. 


• Advocacy was also carried out online, asking the government to respond to needs of very marginalized sections.


• Videos of people from the ground were recorded on simple smart phones and put up on social media - to amplify voices of those who are affected.

1. The first video is by youth leaders carrying out relief operations: on how we need to be responsible and sensitive towards those more vulnerable in this pandemic.

2. The second video is of a ground activist of a nomadic tribe speaking of his people's dire situation.

However, what we found is that when connecting with people on the ground, it is the traditional and familiar technologies that work incredibly well. It is the humble phone call and SMS, which work on the most rudimentary phones and in places with bad networks, that are making it possible to reach the immensely marginalized communities that we are reaching.

There are a few technologies in this regard that we are really missing, which we believe could have helped us reach especially women and girls of these communities with more dignity. One are public phones, locally known as PCOs (public call offices), which used to be abundantly spread all over India in an amazing informal network which could be reached by the poorest of people, and if need be, anonymously. In the cost of Re. 1 (0.013USD), these PCOs allowed us to make a local call. They used to be so ubiquitious as to even be at grocery shops - which are open right now in India even in the lockdown. We cannot stress enough how much these PCOs would have helped our people connect with each other, with government services and with NGOs. Today, those who do not have a phone, or do not have the money to recharge their pre-paid phone plans, have no means of communication. With the flooding of the Indian market with cheap mobile phones and mobile network services, the PCOs became obsolete, but no mobile phone or talk plan can replace a call as cheap as 1 rupee, and which we reiterate, can be made anonymously which is many a times required by women and girls eg. if they are calling a domestic violence helpline.

Another older technology we missed a lot was the telegram and normal post. They could have relieved a huge amount of anxiety of those who are right now walking thousands of miles to reach home. With no phones, they could have at least communicated with their families back in the villages through the very cheaply priced telegrams or postcards.

Because even though we managed to reach people in the interiors, this was after multiple calls with multiple people to reach just one family. Consider this one case -

Anubhuti has been making direct bank transfers to poor families across the state. Each poor family, from getting in touch with us, to noting down their bank details, sending us the details and receiving the message from us that we had done the transfer - depended on richer people near them, to request use of their phones for this. One needs to imagine being a desperately poor family looking around for a richer family help them, to understand the anxiety and lack of dignity that such a simple act causes. There must be many rejections and negative responses before a more privileged family agrees to help them. This dynamic of power could have been avoided if they had access to public phones or telegrams or the humble postcard. In this situation, when I imagine a woman or girl approaching the local rich family (who are more often than not the politically and socially dominant family in the region), I shudder at the potential danger of economic exploitation and sexual harassment. 

Another gap was that public internet connection booths (known as cyber cafes locally) were not kept open as essential services. So only those who can afford wifi at home or internet on their phone were those who are managing to remain connected. Those not so privileged cannot make use of the internet or other online services which would have been very useful. 

Helplines run by various NGOs and volunteer groups are doing an immense service in reaching people in need of food or other help. But based on our experience, the helplines are not reaching the most marginalized communities - because they are being circulated on whatsapp. The poorest people who don't have smartphones don't have whatsapp. Perhaps even more simpler mediums such as SMS can be used for a wider reach.

We also recommend that during such calamities, it is the existing and familiar technologies that people turn to for help. While new apps are always useful, companies such as Google and Facebook could have stepped up more. These are apps that are available on at least every smartphone. These platforms could have been used effectively, such as by allowing people needing help and those providing help to map themselves, making available simple awareness material on the homepage itself, and so on.

We do not find any emergency plans announced by the mobile service providers in India, such as discounted or free SMS plans, talk plans, data plans, etc. These could have really helped alleviate the suffering of people who right now cannot afford to recharge their mobile phone plans, meaning they are without any means of communication.  

In India, Ration Cards (a document given to those below poverty line to get subsidized foodgrains at designated government outlets) are needed to be linked to the Adhar Cards (unique identity card) of their holders, to actually get the foodgrains. This is an instance where technology has been used not to make people's lives easier but to make it harder. The two cards were never linked for a large number of people, because the centres with machines doing so did not do their work optimally. This means that a huge number of the poorest people in this crisis are simply not eligible for any food benefits announced by the government.

While it is NGOs who are at the forefront of relief work, we found that this network has not been used optimally by the government. In fact, we have faced roadblocks at every step while carrying out relief, because authorities on the ground were unsure if NGOs may carry out relief or not. Every NGO in India is supposed to be registered at an online portal of the Government of India. We belief that portals such as these could have been used to facilitate relief work by NGOs in every district, of course with strict guidelines. 

Technology can also be used to make IEC about the pandemic in diverse local languages - where again NGOs can be consulted - and disseminated as printed posters. We do believe that many older technologies - such as printed material - if they are more accessible when seen from the perspective of those most removed from the mainstream, should be continued to be used innovatively.

To sum up, here are our recommendations for using technology to better our response to not just the current but also be prepared for other calamities, in which women and girls are the worst affected. I believe that technology's first use should be to solve fundamental questions of people's lives, then for leisure. Let us ensure this , by making sure the available technology is accessible to those whose basic questions still remain unfulfilled. 

1. Continuing availability of cheaper devices with phone and SMS services - for those who cannot afford smartphones.


2. Re-opening of public phone booths at least in times of disaster so that those who do not have phones are not cut from communication entirely.


3. Re-starting of the telegram and continuation of few postal services such as postcards, to help people who depend exclusively on these technologies to stay in touch.


4. Keeping open public internet kiosks so that those without wifi at home or data on their phones can still access the internet - with strict guidelines for accessing only essential items.


5. Circulating messages about Helplines for relief on SMS.


6. Technology giants like Google and Facebook can use their massive reach for easy-to-understand awareness content, mapping of persons needing help and those providing help, etc.


7. Link Adhar cards to Ration cards of people on priority basis, and complete other such formalities in a way that does not add to the problems of those already living hard lives. Rules based on technology should be made easy to implement and to access by the rule-makers and technology providers. Those finding it difficult because inaccessible technology is involved cannot be punished for the same. 


8. The government can use technology to coordinate with NGOs and reach those needing help more effectively.


9. IEC to be made in diverse local languages and also be made available in print, so as to reach those who are still removed from the digital and online world.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmOTRvMi3ME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ltdMqIyAgk