Ancillary services: Ancillary services are included in the Pallitathya Kendra mainly for income generation. Major ancillary services are soil test, photography, computer compose and print, commercial mobile phone service, internet browsing and e-mail, nebuliser renting service, blood pressure measurement, height and weight measurement, admission service, DV application, scanning, government forms etc. These ancillary services are integrated with the Pallitathya Kendra based on the demand within the community. The selection of services is made in such a way so that additional skills requirement is not necessary (except soil test).
 
Bangladesh Telecentre Network (BTN): It is a coalition of telecentre practitioners in Bangladesh (www.mission2011.net)

Common Access Point: For addressing the problem of affordability of ICTs by the poor, creating common access point is a common practice across the globe. “Telecentre” is a generic name for such common access point. Ideally, a common access point is furnished with various ICTs to provide livelihood information and knowledge services through various ICT and Non- ICT channels.

Computer Learning Programme (CLP): Computer Literacy Programme (CLP) is designed to bridge the gap between urban and rural underprivileged youth in terms of computer skills. CLP is initiated by Voluntary Association for Bangladesh (VAB), New Jersey, USA and is being implemented by D.Net (www.vabonline.org/vabnj).

Computer Teaches Everyday English (CTEE): Computer Teaches Everyday English (CTEE) is an extension of CLP. It aims to assist underprivileged youth of rural Bangladesh in improving their conversational English in an unstructured fashion without getting bogged down in learning through grammar.

DV application: Diversity Visa migration programme of US government. The application of this visa is designed to submitted online using internet connection. Generally villagers travel to town and sometimes district head quarters for submission of this application. Following the demand by the villagers this service was attached in the Pallitathya Kendra.

Floating PK: It is the Pallitathya Kendra on boat for the community which is surrounded by rivers and large water body. This type of Pallitathya Kendra is designed for the community where villages are scattered and only means of communication is boat.

Helpline: Help line is a mobile phone based call centre which provides experts’ opinion and advice to the grass-roots people at the point of their need. Helpline is operated through the mobile lady who connects the villagers with the experts’ pool using mobile phone

IM based helpline: Instant Messenger based help line is a new mode of accessing helpline experts through instant messenger services line Yahoo, Skype, Google talk etc. Usually the trained Infomediary assists the villagers to connect the help desk experts and provide technical assistance to them.

Infomediary: Infomediary is an information literate person, from within a community, who is for addressing the problem of double illiteracy of the community beneficiaries. S/he is a human interface between knowledge-base and rural illiterate and print-disable people for accessing livelihood content and other services.

Information and knowledge services: Information service is for providing livelihood information and knowledge to the grass-roots using different channels like computer, internet, radio, mobile phone, print media, video documentation, face to face consultation meeting, and many other different forms. Information and knowledge service are in the main areas of agriculture, health, education, non-farm economic activities, appropriate technology, human rights, good governance, and capacity building.

Jeebika.com: It is an online Bangla web portal (www.jeebika.org.bd) for accessing to job information particularly suitable for the rural people. Rural and town level employment market is not transparent due to lack of information. Using this portal people can search job information by job category, by the district, by the educational qualification as well as combination of all options in Bangla.

Jeeon-IKB: Jeeon-IKB (Information and Knowledge Base) is an off-line browsing system to search livelihood content in nine areas of livelihood. The word ‘Jeeon’ means ‘life’, the slogan of the content base ‘information for life and livelihood’. The web version of the content is www.Jeeon.com.

Jeeon-Thikana: Jeeon-Thikana is a database which comprises information about service providers which are essential for rural community. For community people it is useful to know ‘where’ and ‘how much’ than ‘how’. This database is used by the Infomediary at the Pallitathya Kendra as well as help-desk experts while answering questions of the grass-roots people. D.Net’s current database contains information of organisations which include address, services, price range of services and service acquiring mechanism. Directory database gathered information on service providers related to health, legal support, agriculture etc. in regions surrounded the intervention area with a large radius.

Kajoli: Kajoli is the name of village of Magura district in Bangladesh. In this village a model was tested to provide education to the kids who are preparing themselves for the primary school. This is an unique example of participatory action research where community people are running this model. Under this model, kids from the rural poor gather in a place in the community where a rural woman volunteer takes the responsibility to facilitate children’s learning. Mother of the kids supply snacks for the kids regularly on rotation basis. The Kajoli model is very low pre-school education system with active community participation.

Meena: Meena is a popular character of an animation produced by UNICEF. This animation series is very popular among children.

Microsoft Unlimited Potential Programme (MSUP): Microsoft UP is a global initiative that focuses on improving lifelong learning for underserved young people and adults by providing technology skills through Community Technology Learning Centres.

Mobile lady: Mobile lady visit door to door in villages with a mobile phone, listens the villager’s livelihood problems and assist them to ask question to help-desk experts and help the villager to receive the appropriate answer from the experts at Help Desk.

No exclusion policy: No exclusion policy means nobody in the community is excluded from the services of the Pallitathya Kendra. The Pallitathya Kendra offers services for all class of people; even if people are not able to pay for services are entitled to receive information at subsidised rate or free of cost. Furthermore, having a physical location of the Pallitathya Kendra, the Infomediary moves around the village, so that none of the villagers are remain untouched, particularly women and people with handicap.

No refusal policy: Once a community beneficiary comes to the information centre and fails to get the desire answer, they can pick up the mobile phone or send e-mail to the Help Desk expert team to get an immediate advice for their problem. Even if the help desk experts don’t have the answer ready at their end, they consult with some domain institutions and experts and reply is ensured to the beneficiary.

Off-line channel: Off-line channels are which does not require internet connection for exchange of information and knowledge for the grass-roots people.

Pallitathya Bulletin: Pallitathya Bulletin is a regular publication in Bangla language to provide livelihood information to the community. It is a traditional channels for exchange of information and knowledge. Every month this publication is published with key information relevant to that month. Rural people can preserve the important information as the Pallitathya Bulletin is reached to the community in print form.


Telecentre Times: Telecentre times is a global newsletter of the telecentre practitioners. Four key organisations are involved in this initiative which are telecentre.org, ugabytes, Sarvodaya and D.Net. In Bangladesh, Bangladesh Telecentre Network is now hosting the Bangla version of the newsletter.

Thematic camps: Thematic camps are issue based camps where rural community beneficiary can access to experts face-to-face. The Pallitathya Kendra usually organizes camps on legal, health, education, agriculture and different other issues. In these camps local service providers like lawyers, local government officials, government representatives etc. are invited and follow-up the cases received from the camps. This camp becomes very popular event at the villages where on an average more than 100 villager joins the

Union Parishad: Union Parishad is the smallest unit of local government in Bangla.