More than 300 million identified individuals fall under the category of Below Poverty Line (BPL) who, by definition earns less than a dollar a day. This is the same share of the population that directly depends on access to government schemes and entitlements as their basic rights.
Therefore, realizing the need to serve India’s rural, remote and marginalized population with relevant information about government services, schemes and entitlements in a timely manner, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) designed and launched a mobile application called “MeraApp”.
About MeraApp
Mera app the Android-based app is developed using cutting edge technology which provides rural India’s vulnerable population with a catalogue of welfare schemes, with comprehensive information on entitlements, in an effort to empower them with access to rights and benefits under the core areas of Health, Education, Social security, Finance and Livelihood. It is a multilingual app that smoothly runs on both online and offline mode. Its design is extremely user-friendly and can be easily downloadable on a mobile platform.
Functions
- Strengthens the poor information ecosystem in rural communities of India.
- Connects the rural population to the popular government schemes and empowers them to access their rights and benefits
- Promotes new age wireless entrepreneurship in the areas of information services among unemployed youth in India
- Promotes the larger objectives of Digital India in bringing up digital inclusion among the masses
- Facilitates the process of availing citizen entitlements in an easy manner.
Advantages
The app connects the rural population to the popular government schemes and empowers them to access their rights and benefits. The app has its own mind and once beneficiary enters its socioeconomic details, the app analyses the information and pitches various schemes available in a particular state. It reflects data related to schemes –benefits, timeline, eligibility, prerequisite identity documents, and age limit- including the entire application process to access the entitlements.
One of the highlights of application is that beneficiaries can easily lodge their grievance on government portals through it and even track the status of the complaint.
Impact
- Information and services at doorsteps
- Decentralization and democratization of rural information ecosystem
- Information and entitlement empowerment of excluded groups and communities
- Wireless technology and platforms as a great source of empowerment and development
Read more about MeraApp on www.meraapp.in
