Dr. Thomas Isaac, Hon’ble Minister for Finance,
Shri Pannian Ravindran, Former MP,
Shri M. Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC,
Shri Palode Ravi, Former Deputy Speaker,
Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Former Chairman, ISRO,
Dr. James Premkumar, Chairman and Managing Director, James Group of Institutions,
Adv. V.K. Biju, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court of India,
Shri N. Balagopal, Vice Chairman, P.N. Panicker Foundation,
Smt. R. Lekha, Chief Co-ordinator, P.N. Panicker Foundation,
Shri Vinod Kuriakose, CSC e-governance service, Govt. of India,
Dear learners,
Madhyama Suhruthukkale,
Sahodaree Sahodaranmare,
Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram.
I am very happy to address you after awarding certificates to the learners who have qualified the Online examination of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
Let me at the outset, express my appreciation for the efforts of P.N. Panicker Foundation in encouraging the rural population to become digitally literate.
As we all know, the P.N. Panicker Foundation has been successfully organizing the National Reading Day and Reading Month celebrations in the recent years. The foundation's initiatives in spreading literacy and encouraging the habit of reading had prompted the Government of Kerala to observe the 19th of June every year as Vaayanadinam (Day of Reading) in the past 23 years.
The activities of the Foundation call to our minds, the memory of the Late P.N. Panicker, the father of the Library movement in Kerala. Through the famous slogan Read and Grow, he helped to expand the library network from a mere 45 in 1945 to more than 6,000 in the eighties. At a time when the habit of reading has spread beyond the printed page to the e-readers and other hand-held devices, the Foundation has taken up the task of improving the digital literacy of people in our villages. This function throws light on the success of the Foundation in taking the message of Digital Literacy to our villages.
As we all are aware, the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India, had dedicated to the nation, the concept of the National Digital Library of Indiaas One Library for All of Indiaon June 19th 2018. This declaration was made as part of its National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT). It is a matter of pride that the dedication was made while commemorating the services of the Late P.N. Panicker, the father of Library and Literacy Movement.
I understand that the P.N. Panickar Foundation was entrusted by Government of India to provide leadership to the Reading Mission 2022, which sets an ambitious target of taking the message of reading to 300 million people. While this effort to popularize digital literacy is aimed at everyone including the ordinary rural population, it is commendable that the most advanced institutions of technology have come forward to design the mass education programme. I am informed that the National Digital Library of India (NDL India)has developed a virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility, which allows focused searching so that learners can spot the right resource with least effort and in minimum time. In tune with our linguistic diversity, NDL India is designed to hold content of any language and provides interface support for leading Indian languages.
I am happy that this facility is providing support for all academic levels including researchers and life-long learners and the differently-abled through all popular devices, making the whole initiative inclusive in nature. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur deserves appreciation for its role in developing this framework which has 1.7 crore contents including books and periodicals in 200 languages of the world.
With such vast resources, I am certain that there would be a renewed interest in education among students as well as people who could not continue formal studies due to pressures of life. Since Kerala has already registered the highest Internet and mobile penetration in India, the transition towards digital literacy would be very easy. We also have the distinction of being a State with high level of digital empowerment at the grassroots levels.
The spread of technology has provided us many more avenues for reading and learning. As I mentioned earlier, we have e-readers, audio books and these facilities are available in hand-held devices. However, we need to educate the elderly generation along with the young people in utilizing these devices for meaningful learning activity. This is because, being a life-long student is one way of keeping oneself young, healthy and more receptive to the social changes. If we look at Kerala, we have a large population of elderly people, some of whom are struggling to keep pace with the changing technologies. This disconnect with modernity has also been causing many health issues among the elderly people. I feel that digitally engaging them in meaningful activity would go a long way in keeping them healthier and active.
Digital literacy is also to be seen as a way to integrate the lakhs of guest workers into our society. We see many among them being engaged in unhealthy practices and life styles, mainly due to lack of awareness. I hope the P.N. Panicker Foundation would devote its attention to the empowering of our guest workers also through literacy activities.
I take this opportunity to congratulate all the learners who have undergone the digital literacy course and become eligible to earn their certificates. I hope you would become brand ambassadors of digital literacy and learning in our society.
I compliment the Foundation for organizing this function in a befitting manner.
Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal
Nanni
Jai Hind
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