The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Computer literacy for all families

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 05, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Computer literacy for all families

T. Ramavarman

Plan to make Kerala fully e-governed within five years Plan to make Kerala fully e-governed within five years

FIRST LESSONS: Women learn the first lessons in computer as part of the State-sponsored e-literacy programme. - Photo: VipinChandran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After achieving total literacy more than a decade ago, Kerala is all set to make at least one member each of all families in the State computer-literate.

The Information Technology Department has worked out a draft roadmap for the programme involving local bodies, which aims at realising the target within a year.

The department has a much more ambitious agenda — making Kerala a fully e-governed State within five years. The family-level computer-literacy project has been designed towards that end.

Akshaya project

IT Special Secretary K.R. Jyothilal told The Hindu on Sunday that total computer literacy at the family level would be achieved through the IT@School project and by extending the Akshaya computer literacy project to all districts.

The Akshaya project was extended to Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts after its success in Malappuram in 2004.

It would be extended to Palakkad, Wayanad, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram by April.

Mr. Jyothilal said surveys had indicated that in the second phase, the Akshaya project was able to ensure that one member of at least 30 per cent of the families in the seven districts was made computer-literate.

The figure would go up to 80 per cent if the IT@School project was included, he said.

Three facets

When extended to the remaining six districts, the project will have three facets: spreading e-literacy, generating locally relevant content in local languages to be made available on computers at the Akshaya centres and utilising these centres for providing services.

In this phase, efforts are on to integrate the Akshaya project with the common service centre scheme of the Union Government.

The service centres will provide Government-to-citizens (G2C) services and business-to-citizens (B2C) services. The Akshaya centres are also expected to do so.

The Union Government's proposal was to start one centre for six villages. But the State had requested for at least 3,178 centres so that every 2,000 to 2,500 people would have one.

The final phase of discussions in this regard is likely to be held between the Central and State officials this week.

In the early phase, the Akshaya project was focussing on spreading e-literacy.

Now, efforts to provide the computer-literates an opportunity to use their newly acquired knowledge are being launched, Mr. Jyothilal said.

Altogether 1,500 Akshaya main centres and another 1,000 sub-centres are working in the districts where the project has been launched. Almost an equal number of centres will be started in the next phase.

This will ensure that neo-computer literates can access computer facilities in areas close to them.

Also, they will be able to make use of G2C services such as getting birth certificates and other documents as well as paying dues to the Government. Similarly, B2C services can be used for paying premiums of private insurance companies and buying SIM cards.

Mr. Jyothilal said locations and entrepreneurs for starting the Akshaya centres were being identified.

But the focus was on ensuring the involvement of the local bodies, and massive efforts had been launched to create awareness among them, he added.

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