A missed-call IVR platform lets illiterate, Gondi-speaking villagers in Chhattisgarh record and hear local news without internet or literacy; peer-reviewed research logged 575,000+ calls, 6,900+ stories and 287 resolved grievances.
Launched in 2010 by former BBC journalist Shubhranshu Choudhary with Microsoft Research India's Bill Thies, CGNet Swara serves rural, Gondi-speaking communities in Chhattisgarh where under 1% had internet access and many were not literate in Hindi or English.
Objectives
The platform aimed to let illiterate, non-Hindi/English-speaking villagers report and hear local news and grievances using only a phone, with no app, literacy or internet required.
Activities
Callers place a free missed call and are called back to record a message; roughly 50 volunteer sub-editors review and verify submissions before publishing them for anyone to hear by calling the same number.
Results
A peer-reviewed 2015 study documented over 575,000 calls, 6,900+ published stories and 287 grievances resolved (e.g. repaired hand pumps, recovered unpaid wages), including a case where listener reports surfaced more malaria cases than official records for the prior decade.
Conclusions
The platform was still active as of a September 2024 AGM and a 2024 IGF session, 14 years after launch, though the study notes benefits concentrate on callers whose reports get picked up and depend on the unpaid sub-editor network's capacity.
Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Low-cost IVR telephony infrastructure plus an unpaid volunteer editorial network rather than paid journalists.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Operating continuously for 14+ years since 2010 launch.
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