84% Farmers Accessing Kisan Call Centres Satisfied with the Expert Advice

Queries of farmers of all Union Territories & States throughout the country are being answered in 22 languages through Kisan Call Centers (KCCs) at 13 locations. KCCs are accessible by dialing a single nation-wide toll free number 1800-180-1551 through landline as well as mobile numbers of all telecom networks from 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM on all days a week and all 365 days in a year.

A study on evaluation of the Impact of Kisan Call Centers (KCCs) conducted by Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad (ASCI), revealed that 84% of the farmers expressed overall satisfaction regarding the advice provided to them by Call Centre Agents (CCAs). The study also pointed out that KCC advice resulted in effective control of pests, weeds and diseases and better management of fertilizer use. Advice given by KCCs enabled the farmers to take timely decisions and in the process crop production and productivity went up.

A new Service Provider for KCC namely IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) has been identified through competitive bidding process to set up state of the art KCCs at identified locations. The restructured KCCs will be more professional on account of the following technological innovations being included:

a. Voice/Media Gateways [Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange (IPPBX) based decentralized system].

b. Dedicated MPLS leased line network with dedicated bandwidth.

c. Call barging by experts and officers.

d. SMS to caller farmers providing a gist of advisories given to them on phone.

e. Voice mail system for recording farmer’s queries when KCC is closed and when all lines busy, with provision for call back to the caller.

f. Soft phones in every personal computer with caller ID facility.

g. Upscaling the knowledge of CCAs by way of providing latest versions of guide books and booklets issued by the State Agricultural Department or the Agricultural Universities. Facility of video conferencing of each KCC for interaction of KCC agents with the Divisional/Zonal Level Officers of the State Agriculture and allied departments as well as on line monitoring for the working of KCCs.

h. Call Conference and Call Escalation for advice by higher level experts.

This information was given by Shri Harish Rawat, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.

MP:SB: CP kisan (4.5.2012)