Kerala farmers enter cyber space

KANNUR (Kerala): Women form the majority of neo e-literates in Sreekantapuram panchayat near here.

They were introduced to the digital world by Akshaya, a project being implemented in seven out of the 14 districts in Kerala. The project that was initiated in Malappuram district on November 18, 2002 with the aim of making one member from every household e-literate, was later expanded to seven districts.

Akshaya, with its grassroots-level learning was meant to take e-literacy to the masses on an unprecedented scale.

About 5,300 families in Sreekantapuram spread over 19 wards participated in the project. All of them achieved e-literacy in 11 months. For women, who made up 65 per cent of the neo e-literates, this was also an opportunity to empowerment.

Chiyyayi, a tribal leader from the Valliyad Scheduled Tribe Colony, declared Sreekantapuram in Kannur district e-literate, the first panchayat to achieve the norm in the second stage of the Akshaya project.

The declaration was made at a function here in the presence of the State minister for health, PK Sreemathy on Saturday.

Akshaya had achieved 100 per cent e-literacy in Sreekantapuram, one of the few rural areas in the State with almost every family engaged in farming, the main crops being paddy, coconut and rubber.

The Akshaya center at Sreekantapuram has 15 sub centers reporting to it. The State Government had plans to turn Akshaya centers into service centers, accepting telephone bills, electricity bills and university fees as well as communication centers providing modern technologies, such as e-mail, videoconferencing, net meeting, Internet telephony and fax.

Kamblari and Valliyad in Sreekantapuram were two of the first scheduled tribe colonies to become 100 per cent e-literate.

Over 140 people from 100 families, including women who were otherwise illiterate, in the colony had gained computer education through the project.

© CyberMedia News