Establishment of village knowledge centres (VKC)
- Village Knowledge Centre (VKC) is a place to provide distant services from a single window to rural people in remote areas through the use of modern ICT.
- The knowledge centre will be connected to farmers using various information and communication technologies.
- The VKC plays a pivotal role and develops training modules, audio, video, and text content for the identified technologies and conduct capacity building programmes to address the challenges of climate variability and climate change in agriculture.
- The VKC provides scientific and site-specific information and knowledge related to climate-smart agriculture, animal husbandry, health and nutrition, employment, education, and Government entitlements, etc, and to address the requirements of men and women farmers and agricultural labourers.
- VKC uses a multi-pronged communication strategy through its specialized services such as mobile based audio advisories, farmers’ helpline services, audio-video conferences, phone-in programmes, social media, video including multimedia-based learning, plant clinics, etc. to disseminate dynamic and static information and knowledge.
- The financial viability of such centers needs to be ensured by initially establishing VKC in bigger villages making it single-window points for delivery of public services, health-care schemes, social welfare schemes, financial schemes, education, and agriculture services to citizens in those villages in the line of Common Service Center, a great initiative by the Government to allow and offer access to the various government schemes and services.