Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

University to act as village knowledge centre

Staff Reporter

PURA will play a major role in enhancing women’s education, says Vice-Chancellor

— Photo: M. Moorthy

Informative talk: M. Ponnavaiko, Vice-Channcellor, Bharathidasan University, centre, having a word with the founder of Indo-Franco Reconstruction Project Shyama V. Ramani, at a conference in Tiruchi. Mayor Sarubala R. Tondaiman looks on.

TIRUCHI: The Bharathidasan University will act as a village knowledge centre and implement the ‘Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas’ (PURA) project, the Vice-Chancellor, M. Ponnavaiko has said.

PURA would be realised in a big way with objectives of equipping different sections of the rural society with information technology tools.

The project would reach out the commonest people in inaccessible villages and pave way for innovative technological applications.

The project would improve the livelihood of people, enhance the rural education and identify the school dropouts and equip them with vocational training, Dr. Ponnavaiko said, inaugurating the international conference on ‘Millennium development goals, targets and indicators’ on Thursday.

Stressing the importance of women empowerment, he said that proper health facilities and education must reach women to improve the society as a whole. Information technology would be of no good if it did not reach the rural masses.

Incidentally, the PURA would play a major role in enhancing women’s education through IT.

E-governance in regional language would be a major step towards making technology accessible for all.

The project, with University as its resource centre, would also aim to introduce telemedicine, adult education and vocational training for the villagers, the Vice-Chancellor said.

Mayor Sarubala R. Tondaiman spoke on varied projects in the corporation. Implementing waste water management, solid waste management and underground drainage system would be the top priority of the urban body. It has spent over Rs.99 crore to meet the water needs and Rs.30 crore to improve the roads in the city. Many non-governmental organisations had joined hands with the Corporation in improving the sanitation in the outskirts of the city, she noted.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Centre for Women Studies (CWS) of the University, Institute National de la Recherché Agronomique France and the non-governmental organisation SCOPE.

The Director of CWS N. Manimekalai, founder of Indo-Franco Reconstruction Project and professor at the Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique France Shyama V. Ramani and the Director of SCOPE M. Subburaman coordinated the programme.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cadets take out awareness rally
Job fair at Tirupur on July 28, 29
Detonators, gelatine sticks seized
Mettur level
Sangam members stage demonstration
Demand to disburse educational loans without conditions
Policemen held for murder
University to act as village knowledge centre
Be role models, women told
Six get life term in murder case
Extend your cooperation for a cause
Farmers begin groundwork
Tiruchi Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu