CHENNAI: On Saturday, the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa launched the Rs 15 crore Amma Mobile Phone Scheme for trainers of self-help groups (SHGs) in rural areas. Around 20,000 Community SHG Trainers would get this android smartphone with a special app in Tamil.
Three SHG trainers got the smartphones from the Chief Minister at the Secretariat. Along with the mobile phone, SIM card would also be given free of cost and the monthly dues would be paid by the Tamil Nadu Women's Development Corporation. At present, there are 6.08 lakh SHGs in the State with 92 lakh members. Of them, over 4.23 lakh are in rural areas.
"This step will help us track and monitor the self help groups in real time. It will help improve the SHGs' efficiency besides monitoring the financial discipline of each. We had to go in person to inspect their records, minute books etc. to find out these details. But now we can track these groups online," official sources said.Â
"At present, a simple application developed by the Corporation for marking attendance and savings is installed in the phone. In a month, an upgraded application for online Debt Portal would be installed in these phones. Bankers will be given access to these apps so that they can find out the internal and external loans taken by the group members and their repayment to help assess the integrity of each group," sources added.
When you switch on the mobile, an icon with the face of the Chief Minister appears. Each user will have a separate username and password. On Monday and Tuesday, officials will be trained to use the mobile phone and they will train the groups.
Specifications of the Phone: Lava P7; dual SIM phone with 3G data connectivity by Vodafone; unlimited calls among the group members; 250 SMS free; Market price `4,999; procurement price by Women's Development Corporation Rs 3,850 a unit.
The smartphone features a glossy pearl back finish and a metallic housing; 5 inch display; Android v5.1 (Lollipop), upgradable to v6 (Marshmallow), 1.2 GHz Quad Core processor and 1 GB RAM 5 MP rear camera and a 2 MP front camera; supports 12 Indian Languages, Memory : IGB RAM, 8GB ROM, internal (8GB).