Role of ICT & traditional folk media in rural development in India

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have made great inroads in Indian middle class society over last one decade. The ever swelling cities and shrinking space for living in the metropolitans provides just the kind of conditions ICT needs for entering into the life and living patterns of people. Every third individual in cities possesses a smart phone with numerous internet oriented applications. Traditional class rooms have given way to smart class rooms and age-old lecture method of teaching is replaced with interactive teaching methods. The teacher-taught relations and the curriculum have undergone a sea change. The e-culture has engulfed the urbanites and Information Revolution has not only revamped their living patterns but it has become a part and parcel of their lives. Computers have since long replaced the paper work in institutions. Personal Computers, Lap Tops, I-Pads, Palm Tops and Smart Phones have become a common phenomenon in the average Indian urban middle class families. Hence the embodiments of social, economic, cultural and psychological frame work of people have changed for the betterment. The ICTs have conquered time and space and they have virtually reduced the World into a ‘Global Village’ where interaction and inter-dependency is a must.