Fishing villages to get linked to dist. HQs: Kalam

NEW DELHI: President of India Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam has said that all the fishing villages in the coastal area of the country should be linked to their district headquarters (DHQs) through broadband fiber and wireless connection.

For this, the fishermen will be provided with broadcasting facilities through satellite radios and HAMSAT network. Mobile cell phone with GPS facility may also be provided for each boat for emergency communication.

Dr. Kalam further said that electronic connectivity will also provide the local fishing population data, local meteorological and local sea state data through SMS from the Ground Village Knowledge Centers obtained from the nearby meteorological station, disaster management stations, district headquarter station and the other service providers.

This was announced by the President, during the second convention on National Alliance and the first convocation of the National Virtual Academy (NVA) for rural transformation. The President gave away 140 NVA fellowships comprising of members drawn from 15 States.

Delivering his lecture on "Knowledge Sources and System Integration" to the First Fellows of the Jamshedji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity, Dr. Kalam mainly touched on PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas). He said that the aim of National alliance to achieve Mission 2007 i.e. to make every village a Knowledge Center, is indeed a noble mission. “One of the important missions, is generating capacity for creation of employment, otherwise the knowledge centers will become ineffective,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Communications & IT Dayanidhi Maran said that the way to reach the rural hinterland is by using ICT through Village Knowledge Centers. He added, “The centers will provide the village folk to access to various services like education, information related to agriculture, registration of births and deaths, communication facilities such as text and voice mail, fax, telephone, etc.”