Kozhikode – first e-literate city in Kerala

Kozhikode, Aug 29 (IANS) Kozhikode was Friday declared the first e-literate city in Kerala, thanks to a special scheme that aims at making at least one member of each family computer literate. The e-literacy project was kicked off in the city in 2005. It was executed by Akshaya, a scheme of the Kerala government’s IT mission, which aims at 100 percent e-literacy in the state, assisted by the city corporation and women’s self-help group ‘Kudumbasree’.

 I hope the Government and the City civil authorities plan and implement the necessary follow up programmes to make sure e-literacy actually helps the common man achieve greater heights in life.

 As we have seen, the state literacy campaign that made Kerala the first state to achieve 100% literacy, have failed to implement any follow up measures. Literacy is not about being able to write your own name, it is about empowering the people with the ability to acquire and utilise knowledge pertaining to various aspects of daily life. Mere tokenism would definitely not be sufficient.