The Hindu : Kerala News : Akshaya to step up awareness campaign

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 18, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Akshaya to step up awareness campaign

Staff Reporter

Only 10 per cent of the population covered so far

KOCHI: Akshaya, an e-literacy project, is stepping up its awareness campaign in the district after the deadline for completing the first phase has been extended.

Unlike in Malappuram, where the Akshaya project was a success, the work here took off at a slow pace.

Officials of the project said the response from rural areas was good, while the urban population generally stayed away from it.

The project was launched in December 2005 and the first phase was expected to be over by December 2006.

With less than 10 per cent of the population covered so far, the deadline has been extended to January 2007. Those at Akshaya expect to cover about 60 per cent of the target by that time. "Out of the 7 lakh households, according to the statistics provided by the Town Planning Department, only 50,000 houses have been covered so far," said one of the Akshaya officials.

Road shows planned

Road shows, featuring traditional art forms characteristic to the locality, are being planned to boost the awareness campaign. Here, Chavittunatakam will be used to effectively spread the message of e-literacy.

Quotations have been invited from troupes that could present the theme within Rs. 2 lakhs. At least four major junctions will be covered in a day. The road show is expected to hit the road after Onam.

At present, an e-literacy oath has been circulated among schools in the district.

The oath has been sent to schools in 88 panchayats, eight municipalities and corporation limits through social animators, who are the interface between the public and the project officials.

An e-literacy month observance will also be held between September 4 and October 2, during which awareness programmes will be held at ward levels. Campaign committees have been formed in all except 30 panchayats.

Members of Kudumbasree units have also been part of the campaign committees. The goal is to bring more people to the Akshaya centres.

Currently, the district has 160 centres. This is expected to touch 225 soon, though the original target was 261in the district. Individual centres have been given the target of making at least 500 more people e-literate before the deadline for the first phase ends.

The second phase will concentrate on taking the literacy programme to advanced software skills and the Akshaya centres will be converted into single-window service centres in the third phase.

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