As more and more parts of our information world get digitized, ensuring digital access to all citizens becomes important... Kerala is taking an initiative in this regard
Guru source- http://trak.in/tags/business/2017/03/06/kerala-internet-basic-right-free-internet-citizens/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=whatsapp&utm_source=mobile Kerala, the most literate state in India, has made a very sensible, and practical decision regarding access of Internet; something which can be described as a watershed moment for India’s digital policy. Kerala has just declared access of Internet as a basic right for every citizen, just like water, food <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_food_by_country#India>and education. Such basic human rights should not be confused with Fundamental Rights <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_rights_in_India>, which Indian constitution provides for all Indians. However, as per UN, Internet is counted as a basic human right <http://gizmodo.com/internet-access-is-now-a-basic-human-right-1783081865>, and they have suggested that every country should include it as a fundamental human right as well. Most probably, Kerala has just taken the first step in that direction. Kerala has understood that if digitisation and e-Governance needs to be spread, then access to Internet is the most crucial element, because unless people have access to basic Internet, how will they use the fruits of technology? Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac said <http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/kerala/article17401919.ece>, “It is estimated that by 2017-18, almost all government transactions will become IT-based. Thus the *right to basic Internet facility* will become a prerequisite for providing civic services universally through the electronic medium,” And, it is not just talks here – some concrete action has been planned as well, which will ensure that the basic right of all Keralites is met. Govt. has announced plans to provide free basic Internet facility to 20 lakh citizens across the state, and plans to extend broadband connectivity to every household in the state. The project, named as K-Fon, has been announced, which will establish optical fiber cables across the state and would be laid parallel to Kerala State Electricity Board towers, all across the state. M Sivasankar, secretary, department of electronics and information technology said <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/kerala-budget-2017-internet-access-a-basic-right-tm-thomas-isaac/articleshow/57459111.cms>, “The government’s idea will be to deliver internet connectivity with a limited bandwidth to individual households through an optic fibre network to be established parallel to the distribution network of the KSEB..” K-Fon has been planned in a manner which will enable free access to Internet via WiFi hotspots at ‘Akshaya centres, Janasevana Kendras, government offices, libraries, and public places’. A sum of Rs 1000 crore has been allocated for the same, and the project is expected to be completed in 18 months. *Some other major announcements from the Kerala Govt. include:* - 12 hardware manufacturing parks would be established in the state, to make Kerala a hub of IT and ITeS niches - Japanese-Korean industrial cluster would be established at Mavoor - Rs 549 crore allocated for the creation of IT parks, Technoparks, SEZs, Infoparks, Cyberparks and Techno-Lodges - Kerala State Govt. will provide financial help and mentorship to 1500 startups from the state This year, Kerala Govt. created a new benchmark for other states, when they saved <http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/kerala-saves-rs-300-cr-as-schools-switch-to-open-software-117022600681_1.html>Rs 300 crore by using Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) in all schools in the state. Guru IT for Change, Bengaluru www.ITforChange.net -- ----------- 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ - http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software ----------- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SocialScience STF" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to socialsciencestf+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to socialsciencestf@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
