TECHNOLOGY. MEDIA. DEVELOPMENT
Our Theory of Change
At Gram Vaani, we believe in using appropriate technology and people driven processes to build participatory media networks that can empower communities. Our Theory of Change has organically evolved from the ground… MoreJoin the Mobile Vaani app partner programme
Mobile Vaani is now available on an app! We've had more than 10K downloads and we regularly have several hundred daily users browsing through the almost two-dozen content channels on the app. The content ranges… MoreLatest news and updates
We've been in the news! Read more... and with over 150 projects cutting across diverse sectors, check out some of our latest updates, learning, impact stories, and opinions and thoughts from the ground. MoreMOBILE VAANI: A SOCIAL SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM FOR RURAL INDIA
We think of Mobile Vaani as a social social media platform for rural areas, ie. a social media platform meant for social development. This indeed captures our vision and motivation. The Mobile Vaani network not only enables over 800,000 households across 12 states of India to create their own voice media, but read our impact stories to understand how this platform actually leads to local action, greater awareness, and empowerment for development.
Click on the map markings to understand our network demography. Mobile Vaani is indeed unique that it reaches more BPL households, low literacy regions, and non-Internet users than any other media such as broadcast television or radio or print. And it does so in an interactive manner on voice, making it accessible to anybody who has a phone.
THE DEVELOPMENT IMPERATIVE BEHIND MOBILE VAANI
Building healthy and equitable societies
Mobile phones have become instrumental in global efforts to drive awareness and encourage behavior change to build equitable societies across the world. Mobile Vaani has been at the forefront of doing this across India, reaching… More
Enhancing access to livelihood opportunities
Earlier this year, we wrote about what we learnt from working with partners to build gender equitable and healthy societies by using information and communication technologies. This time, we want to talk about our work with various… More
Building resilience and ensuring access to safety nets
As we begin 2019, we are delighted to also share that Gram Vaani has completed ten years of operations! It has been a long journey, from university technology labs to now having worked with over… More
What’s next in ICT4D
As we step into 2019 in earnest, it is time for some reflection: What were some interesting developments in the field of technology, especially ICTs, for development in 2018? What are the most unique and… MoreMOBILE VAANI 2.0 INNOVATION CAMPAIGN
Idea #1 – The Right Way to Go Cashless: Exploring ICT-enhanced Value Chains in Rural India
The demonetisation move may have been announced to herald the cashless era – indeed, the volume of electronic transactions increased 43 per cent from November to December 2016, as per Reserve Bank of India data… More
Idea #2 — The right way to bring users online: Hybrid IVR and mobile apps for data migration
Watch the video for our 4-step approach to bring users onlineRocket Post is a telling example of India’s jugaad culture: over 11,000 people are subscribed to this news service in Uttar Pradesh that delivers hyper-local… More
Idea #3 — Using ICTs to improve the design and monitoring of development programmes
Thousands of NGOs and development organisations across India interact with the grassroots everyday - with people, their influencers, their local leaders and government bodies - as part of their programmes. Only with the right communication,… More
Idea # 4: Using Community Media to Build Community Institutions for Development
An anganwadi worker says that food grains received in the centre haven’t been distributed to children and mothers it serves. Over 5,000 farmers haven’t received their insurance pay-outs from the government. A villager has been… MoreLATEST NEWS AND PROJECTS
Encouraging Participatory Democracy through Gram Sabhas: Updates from Tamil Nadu
“India lives in its villages,” said one leader on Urimai Kural (“voice of rights”), broadcasting from Chennai on May 1, 2018. “But the villages are losing their grace. Whose fault is this? The government’s? Politicians’? No!… More
Voices from Mobile Vaani: Aadhaar for midday meals – yay or nay?
On February 28th 2017, the Indian government announced that students who wish to have midday meals in their government schools – a nationwide scheme targeted at increasing enrolment in schools – have to furnish their… More
JEEViKA Mobile Vaani: Encouraging women to access maternal health information through mobile phones
by Vani Viswanathan “What do I need a phone for? If I ever need to talk to someone, I ask my son and he helps me…” This woman from Chandi block is a member of… More
Sowing seeds for a brighter future, with a little help from ICTs
by Vani Viswanathan Some 50 kilometres from Delhi – in Sonipat, Haryana – Surendar, a farmer, is wondering what to do about his lemon trees that have perished. Why did these trees die, while others… More
Voices from Mobile Vaani: What’s at stake due to the closure of Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line
A fire that has been brewing underground for a century has eventually led to drastic changes to the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of people in Jharkhand. Coal mines under Dhanbad have been… More
Voices from Mobile Vaani: Discussing the gender pay gap in Indian informal economies
by Vani Viswanathan Not only are wages in the country low in general, women get even lower wages than men. As opinions from listeners of Mobile Vaani show, this makes it difficult for women to… More
Punji ki Kunji: Engaging with MFI Clients to Change their Lives
by Vani Viswanathan Gaurang wants to know what is the process for getting a loan from a Microfinance Institution. Radha wonders why nearly one month since her application for a loan it hasn’t come through,… More
Voices from Mobile Vaani: Are PACS the farmers’ panacea that was promised?
In the weeks since the Kisan Long March, we at Mobile Vaani reached out to farmers in Bihar to ask what were the biggest issues they faced and what their demands of the government would… More
Holding up half the sky: Elected Women Representatives in Jharkhand
“There was much I didn’t know when I was within the four walls of my house,” said Manju Devi from Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand, an elected woman representative (EWR) from her village. “But there is… More
Helping look beyond disabilities: Namma Vaani
Namma Vaani is an IVR platform provided by Enable India. Run on Gram Vaani’s (OnionDev) Mobile Vaani platform, it caters to the information needs of persons with disabilities and has been piloted in Karnataka. His… More
From the periphery to the core: How can we hear more women’s voices from rural India?
by Vani Viswanathan Neha is a proud, beaming 16-year-old. Standing on the lawns outside Delhi’s India Gate, she speaks to the camera about how she is the first female volunteer with Jharkhand Mobile Vaani– a voice-based social… More
Something For The Mothers
India has the highest number of maternal deaths in the world, an estimated 44,000 deaths every year. Despite 75% decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio in India between 1990 and 2015, the maternal health crisis… More
A Comparison of MobileVaani with Radio and Digital Media
The increased connectivity and technology penetration in India have opened up newer rural and urban markets for the businesses to tap into. The role of advertising becomes paramount for any business venture to reach out… More
From Bhatdih to Delhi – Journey of a young girl and a community reporter
Brimming with exuberance, 16 year old Neha Bhatt, Jharkhand Mobile Vaani’s (JMV) youngest reporter set off from her village in Baghmara block of Dhanbad district. Never stepped out of what Neha calls “Mahuda Zone” in… More
Everyday Heroes Powering the Mobile Vaani Clubs
Meet our heroes who are creating an impact everyday in their community through Mobile Vaani. These are the citizen journalists from Mobile Vaani media clubs who have been collecting stories from the rural marginalized community… More
Farmers’ plea for insurance payments heard through Mobile Vaani
About the Mobile Vaani Impact series: Since 2012, Mobile Vaani has been reaching thousands of people in India’s vast hinterlands with news, views and information about health, banking, education, sanitation, sexuality, agriculture, government policies, etc.… More
Community Media Spurs Collective Action
Ganesh Mahto was one of the many unregistered internal migrants in India who died under ‘unnatural circumstances’ in 2013. Except his story was picked up and shared over Mobile Vaani (MV), causing a cascade of… More
Citizen Engagement in Government Schemes
India is a country which does not see a shortage of schemes and plans for the development and well-being of its people. But most of the time, the fruits of these schemes never reach the… More
Helping companies reach rural India
Geographic, economic and social barriers make India's vast rural population an untapped market waiting to be explored. Our voice based community media network connects hundreds of thousands of people in rural India and provides a… More
The Genesis of Bihar Mobile Vaani
When Community Manager Sultan Ahmad was planning to start a community media club in Darbhanga, he was looking for young people who could be agents of change in urban Bihar. He noticed that the community… More
ET rates Gram Vaani among the 14 startups to watch in 2014
The Economic Times has just released a rating of exciting startups to watch in 2014, and Gram Vaani is in the list! Original source here Industry: Technology for development What it offers: Gram Vaani is… More
Gram Vaani on Amazing Indians, TimesNow!
Our work on Jharkhand Mobile Vaani was covered under the Amazing Indians program on Times Now! Watch the video to learn our story, and the stories of those who use Mobile Vaani. More
Behaviour Change Communication through serials accessible on mobile phones
Behaviour Change Communication or BCC is a comprehensive communication strategy that distributes a tailored message across a targeted group or community to encourage safer and healthier behaviour among them. The process uses a mix of… More
Amplifying women’s voices to improve quality of care
MSD for Mothers, a 10-year, US$500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality, partnered with Gram Vaani and the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood to deliver its model in Jharkhand, a state with one of… MoreGRAM VAANI'S SOLUTIONS FOR COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
spanning vAutomate technology users, 
information campaigns on Mobile Vaani, 
Mobile Vaani partners, and 
community radio automation using GRINS. Click on the map markings to know more.
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