With Information Communication and Technology (ICT) revolutionising healthcare system in the urban sector, it was indeed a novel experiment to take medical care to rural India. But IIT-Kanpur’s innovative Rs 30 lakh project “infothela” (which combined pedal cart with computers) failed. Thanks to poor connectivity.

Now parked at scrap dealer Mohammed Iqbal’s shop on GT Road, the unusual vehicle with the words, “infothela, IIT-Kanpur, Media Lab Asia” written on it, attracts attention.

The infothela was meant to provide and exchange information through fax, Internet and telephony for purposes of education, entertainment, agriculture, and weather, but its main purpose was to make medical care available to people in rural areas. Each infothela cost around Rs 50,000. It carried a personal computer, which was to be connected to the Internet using wireless technology. The battery for running the computers and other equipment got charged while the vehicle was pedalled. It also carried facilities to check blood pressure and blood sugar.

Iqbal said he bought four infothelas, complete with computers and other equipment, from IIT-K for Rs 40,000 each. He dismantled the vehicles and sold off the components, earning a good profit. “One infothela is still parked inside the institute. But they are not selling it for some reason,” he said.

Project Investigator Professor Harish Karnick, who is a faculty member at the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) Department, said the infothela did not click because of bad connectivity. The institute could only produce the technology, its implementation was not in their hands, Karnick said.

... contd.