The dream was realised with the help of Motorola Commercial, Government and Industrial Solutions Sector, popularly known as the Motorola CGISS, which provided two-way Motorola Radios GM 300, and the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), which set up the information and training centres.

Says Mr Aktar H Thaker, director of distribution, South Asia, CGISS: "The project was initiated in 1998. Our aim was to provide information to the distraught. Providing telephone lines till the last mile is very difficult.

The MSSRF contacted V-Link, our channel partners, and we provided the necessary equipment so that the people could download information with their own PCs."

Adds Professor M S Swaminathan of the MSSRF: "We wanted to give economic opportunities to the villagers through such information. See, women often need information about how to start a village enterprise, what loans or grants they would get from the government, etc. And now they get all such information here and use it to their benefit. What we want through this information boom is user-controlled, user-driven information, that is information which can become location specific." But where majority of the people are illiterate, what use would such information have for them? The hurdle was crossed by equipping training and information centres with software in Tamil. The most remarkable achievement has been that over time project volunteers have built their own databases. These locally relevant information sources include information about local market prices for grains, pest management, directory of local hospitals, regional timetable for buses and trains, etc.

And various villagers are deriving various benefits from the database. Women have primarily used the facility to obtain information about public welfare schemes, low-cost insurance and other health issues such as child-bearing and rearing. By using this facility women have also been able to access information about how to start new family enterprises, such as manufacturing incense sticks, etc. Says Mr Gangeyan, a fisherman in Veerampattinam, "Earlier we never had any information about the weather reports, which meant we didn't know whether it is safe to go for fishing. Now we download weather reports from the Net and it is printed and put up on the notice boards in all local languages." It is the first dream of a cyber village becoming true. It seems it won't be the last. Inspired by the success of this project, the local state government has already agreed to provide finance for taking this facility to another 100 villages.