The Minister for Communication & Information Technology, Kapil Sibal, announced with much pomp on 5th October, the breakthrough pricing of a tablet computer at US$35 for "millions of India's schoolchildren" to become digitally connected and benefit from online education. Kapil Sibal, also the Human Resources Development Minister, scored on both counts politically for national and international media coverage.
An earlier 'US$100 laptop' computer ambition failed to materialize.
(...)
Activists in rural poverty alleviation and NGO projects are unimpressed. They see the unsolved disconnects of basic lack of power, clean water, teachers and a failed primary schooling system as the issues which continue to block the dispossessed from information and knowledge.
Sunny Ghosh, CEO of Wolf Frameworks, a successful digital entrepreneur in Bangalore, dismisses the Aakash initiative as political hype.
"Beyond the 50-100 mile radius of the urban centers, there is no basic power availability to households,” he said in an interview. “If there is no electricity, what is the point of having a tablet device? If there is no GSM connectivity either, that truly defeats the intent of bridging the digital divide! Policies like this one will only further widen the gap between the digital haves and have-nots." Full story...
Don't miss:
An earlier 'US$100 laptop' computer ambition failed to materialize.
(...)
Activists in rural poverty alleviation and NGO projects are unimpressed. They see the unsolved disconnects of basic lack of power, clean water, teachers and a failed primary schooling system as the issues which continue to block the dispossessed from information and knowledge.
Sunny Ghosh, CEO of Wolf Frameworks, a successful digital entrepreneur in Bangalore, dismisses the Aakash initiative as political hype.
"Beyond the 50-100 mile radius of the urban centers, there is no basic power availability to households,” he said in an interview. “If there is no electricity, what is the point of having a tablet device? If there is no GSM connectivity either, that truly defeats the intent of bridging the digital divide! Policies like this one will only further widen the gap between the digital haves and have-nots." Full story...
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- From no doctor to e-doctors in rural India...
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