After cycles for girls, Nitish Kumar plans tablets,digital classes for women
The government also hopes to monitor the midday meal scheme through these tablets.
After tasting success with its free bicycle scheme for school-going girls,the Bihar government is planning a freebie in tune with the times – a tablet PC – ahead of the 2014 elections. While other state governments have so far targeted the student community with free laptops and tablets,the Nitish Kumar government is working on an ambitious Rs 8,000 crore scheme to provide tablets to digitally illiterate women in both rural and urban areas.
The aim is to bring digital literacy to a largely ignored segment the woman running a household so that she can access health and education related information that will be useful for her whole family.
Top sources said the GPRS-backed tablet will have assistive technology like voice recognition system and interactive icons on the home screen,so that a user can simply speak and search for information all in Hindi. It will be prepped with informative applications like how to give first aid to a child suffering a sudden bout of diarrhoea,helping the user to contact the nearest primary health centre and even call up a doctor there. It will also have education-related information to enable the user to help her children with homework. The government also hopes to monitor the midday meal scheme through these tablets.
The idea is to bridge the gaping digital divide so that the woman of the house many of whom are illiterate is able to access necessary information. Through this woman,digital access will be extended to the entire family,including the children of the house who will probably help their mothers understand the device better, said an official.
Women will have to clear a digital literacy test to be eligible for the free tablets. The state government has already readied an army of 10,000 trainers who will familiarise the women with the use of tablets and basics of digital education. After a two-month training period,the women will have to appear for a test.
The states apparatus of common service centres vasudha kendras,panchayat level centres and schools with ICT infrastructure will function as the network points for the scheme. The users will be required to visit these centres every month to update software and applications as well to mark their attendance. The state may rope in experts from IITs and elsewhere to ensure that the content on the tablets is relevant and useful.
In a bid to rev up the states economy,the Bihar government plans to procure the tablet PCs only from firms which agree to set up a manufacturing facility in the state. While a number of manufacturers have reportedly shown interest,the technical specifications of the tablet and cost factor will depend on the state governments stipulations.
The state government is likely to seek funding through the 14th Finance Commission and will go to the Planning Commission with this project.
Tablet PCs and laptops are,in fact,the flavour of this political season. The Centre is expected to procure lakhs of tablet PCs for a mega distribution exercise ahead of elections. The Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh governments have already started distributing tablet PCs,while the Jharkhand,Punjab,Goa and Chhattisgarh governments have either placed orders for lakhs of tablets or are close to finalising deals with tablet manufacturers.
ANUBHUTI VISHNOI
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