ISRO-Amrita Village Resource Centre Inaugurated

The President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam inaugurated the Village Resource Centre (VRC) network set up by ISRO in partnership with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeedham in Tamil Nadu and Kerala on July 6, 2005 from Ettimadai, Coimbatore.

Nine VRCs have been set up in this network and are connected with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeedham, Ettimadai, Coimbatore and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi. The nine centres are (i) Amritapuri, Kollam (ii) Puthiyakavu, Karunagappally, Kollam (iii) Azheekkal, Karunagappally, Kollam (iv) Parippally, Kollam (v) Mananthavady, Wayanad (vi) Kalpetta, Wayanad (vii) Ettimadai, Coimbatore (viii) Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu and (ix) Arcot, Chennai. In this endeavour, corporate houses like Intel, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Cognizant Technologies, Oracle and Dhanalakshmi Bank have also joined hands with Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeedham. These VRCs are located at Tsunami relief camps, schools and orphanages.
In order to disseminate the services emanating from the space systems as well as other Information Technology (IT) tools directly to the rural communities, ISRO has initiated a programme to set up VRCs in partnership with concerned state and central government agencies as well as NGOs.

VRCs aim to promote a single window delivery of need-based information services in the areas of education, health, nutrition, weather, environment, agriculture and alternative livlihoods to the rural population.

His Excellency Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, President of India, addressing the audience during the inauguration