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Digital Inclusion

IT literacy tackled in Indian state

By Serene Leow | 20 July 2010

With less than two months to go, time is running out to show results from a key digital inclusion project in the Indian State of Kerala. Dr Rathan Kelkar, Director of the Kerala State IT Mission, spoke to FutureGov to highlight the achievements of Project Sameeksha.

As previously reported last September, a Village Documentation and Community Computing Centre (VDCC) was set up in Munnar Grama Panchayat as part of the project to provide self-sustaining IT resources for the population of around 40,000 people.

A hundred people have since benefited from the Rs. 3.5lakhs (US$7500) project. The training was partially delivered by a pioneer group of 10 villagers who received intensive training when the centre first opened. With the newly acquired status of Master Trainers, the seven women and three men then delivered computer literacy training to school children in the region over the next six months.

For the first time, a wide range of software education was delivered, with a particular focus on low cost computing solutions – something which could rapidly scale up as demand increases. “Detailed training for a total period of 10 days included introduction to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), GNU, Linux, basic desktop usage and troubleshooting and FOSS tools for content development in print, web, audio, video and basic animation,” said Dr Kelkar.

Besides computer training, the trainees also had hands-on sessions on the use of LCD projectors and digital and video cameras. The innovative aspect of Project Sameeksha comes from the fact that it not only aims to empower the community through ICT skills, but revive the sense of ownership the communities have for their native land through documentation of their daily lives, added Dr Kelkar. Rising agricultural prices, plastic waste, and tourism are the top three concerns of the Munnar community. As a result, these were the issues trainees focused on when using a range of open source software and multimedia solutions to create short video clips.

“These films, already uploaded on YouTube, will be shared with local authorities for more informed decision making and planning,” said Dr Kelkar. The videos have attracted over 700 views since they were first uploaded in January 2010.

According to Dr Kelkar, the most successful aspect of the project comes from empowering the villages with technology, creating the potential to “accelerate social change and engage large numbers of disenfranchised people, helping them realise their self-worth”. The next step would be to extend the benefits of ICT and IT to the masses, he said.

“Kerala IT has started the process of bridging the digital divide through a programme called Akshaya – where e-literacy has been provided to the people and they have now been designated as the Citizen Services Centres delivering services to the people,” he said.

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