MeraApp is an android-based innovative mobile application which focuses exclusively on information and citizen services and government welfare schemes, and helping especially rural citizens access government entitlements and services.

MeraApp aims to fulfill the following objectives:
• To strengthen the last mile access and delivery of Information, entitlements and services in rural communities of India;
• To connect the rural population with the government welfare schemes;
• To promote a citizen-centric approach in facilitating entitlements and service delivery;
• To promote the vision of transforming India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy

Since its launch in 2016, MeraApp has spread its roots in 12 districts of 9 states in India. It has also generated over two-hundred SoochnaPreneurs (Information entrepreneurs) in these areas and more than 1 lakh fifty thousand beneficiaries have been benefited from public welfare schemes.

Impacts created by MeraApp:
• Providing Information, Entitlements and Services at citizen’s doorsteps
• Decentralization and Democratization of rural information
• Empowering marginalized communities through information and entitlements
• Creating Rural and Digital information entrepreneurship
• Empowering through Wireless technology

MeraApp is a platform to empower rural and remote population with access to information and bring them closer to their rightful entitlements, thus removing information darkness and bridging the digital gap.

http://meraapp.in/

• India

• Youth
• Older persons
• Women
• Indigenous and nomadic peoples
• People with disabilities
• The unemployed
• The poor
• Migrants
• Remote and rural communities

Lack of Information and it's complexities is still prevalent in rural parts of India. In this country, there are more than 30 crore people who live in below poverty line. They are deprived of their rights and any entitlements as well as welfare schemes or benefits. MeraApp has a replicable model. The project is basically catering to people in the far-flung areas to empower them and works offline as well. The application was developed focussing India but has the potential to cater to a global audience. It has an information about not just policies or government schemes but facilitates in helping rural citizens apply for entitlements. It has a model of on-call grievances, works in the offline mode and quick real-time survey are some of the key features of MeraApp. Users can access information regarding all government welfare schemes; can find news and updates related to new schemes and can keep tab on schemes, application status and even manage the revenue. MeraApp is an android-based mobile application which can be replicated to other parts of the world, once the information is updated accordingly to the respective place.

With India being one of the fastest growing economies in the world, digitalisation of the country is essential, especially given the vast population and wide geography. As the saying goes, information is knowledge and knowledge is power. ‘Information’ is the most dynamic tool, which propels empowerment of the underserved sections of the society. Ownership of digital tools, especially mobile phones, empowers women; and this sense of ownership helps them to come out of the shackles of patriarchal dominance. Women need to be connected more and communicate more. We need to see digitisation from a gendered perspective. Women empowerment in rural areas is the need of the hour. The first thing needed was the empowerment of minds and thought process. One of the major goals was to ensure that digital interventions strengthen grassroots democracy, improve governance, bring efficiency in delivery of government services and give voice to the people. In partnership with Qualcomm, DEF initiated SoochnaPreneur project in 2016. Under this project, people were identified as Information Entrepreneurs and equipped with MeraApp that has a catalogue of welfare schemes and information about the same. The prime objective was to enable people in rural India to be empowered enough to access government entitlements and benefits. MeraApp enables access to to government schemes, entitlements and rights; strengthens the information ecosystem in rural communities; encourages new-age wireless entrepreneurship among rural youth; helps backward and marginalised communities out of information poverty and overall promotes health, education, livelihood, skill development, social security, agriculture and women empowerment in-line with the larger objectives of Digital India. Despite the efforts, there is still information poverty in especially rural India. There is a perpetual need for bridging the information gap and if India aims to achieve 100% digital connectivity, this need is only going to get bigger.

MeraApp is an android-based mobile application, catering to the need of the innumerable people living in digital darkness in rural India. The digital divide is a manifestation of exclusion, poverty and inequality in socio-economic perspective. MeraApp is trying to bridge the digital gap and help people come out of information poverty. MeraApp is connecting the rural population by giving them access to welfare schemes; and promoting the vision of a new transformed digitally-inclusive India. MeraApp is free from any stereotypical biases and any person regardless of caste, creed, gender, religion, age, in need of information regarding any welfare schemes can use the application and be benefited. So in overall sense, project MeraApp promotes all the WSIS values.