BACKGROUND
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is committed to the practical applications of space technology to promote national development.
In light of the growing needs of the disadvantaged sections of the rural society, ISRO worked towards intrduction of a satellite based communication system dedicated to meet these requirements. With this background, Jhabua Development Communication Project (JDCP) was planned and commenced in 1996, for a period of 2 years. This Pilot Project aimed at broadcasting development/education television programmes and interactive training programmes to villages of Jhabua District of MP. It is a collaborative activity of the Development Educational Communication Unit (DECU) of Space Applications Centre (SAC); Govt. of Madhya Pradesh; Ministry of Rural development of the Govt. of India and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) of Jhabua District.
 PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS
The major elements of the network configuration for JDCP project are.
Ahmedabad Earth Station (AES) of SAC as TV Uplink Station.
DECU TV studio at Ahmedabad acting as a teaching end for live interactive TV sessions.
150 Direct Reception Sets (DRS) located in 150 selected locations in the district of Jhabua.
12 Nos. of Talkback DRS (TV receive & audio transmit) located in 12 block Head Quarters of Jhabua District.
 JDCP EXPANSION (GRAMSAT) PROJECT
On the basis of the success of JDCP project which functioned for 2 years successfully from 1996 to 1998, ISRO & the Government of Madhya Pradesh planned for expansion of the project to include villages of Dhar, Jhabua & Barwani as shown in figure 2. The highlights of JDCP expansion project are listed below.
876 DRS were added in the Expansion Phase.
Uplink was established at Bhopal (MP) with TV studio facility.
12 additional talkback terminals were installed.
The entire JDCP project functioned very well and it brought about desired developments in the rural and tribal areas of Jhabua, Dhar & Barwani.
ISRO concluded this project as successful and called it Gramsat (MP) and planned several projects in other parts of India.
MCBS sucessfully implemented the entire project.

 1. Objective :
To provide distance education & training to all colleges & centres affiliated to IGNOU throughout India
2. Organizations :
IGNOU, DECU (SAC) / ISRO
3. a) MCBS has established more than 500 DRS throughout India for distance learning and education for IGNOU.
b) MCBS has also established Digital Video Broadcast uplink and DRS network for the following projects:
(i) NEW DELHI - IGNOU under TDCC (Training and Development Communication Channel)
(ii) BHOPAL - MP-AA (MP Academy of Administration) GRAMSAT-MP
(iii) GANDHINAGAR - RESECO (Remote Sensing & Communication Centre) GRAMSAT-GUJARAT
(iv) MYSORE - ANSIRD (Abdul Nazir Saab State Institute of Rural Development) GRAMSAT-MYSORE
(v) ORISSA-ORSAC (Orissa Remote Sensing Application Centre) GRAMSAT-ORISSA