‘Digi Kerala’ – Comprehensive Digital Literacy Programme

• ‘Digi Kerala – Comprehensive Digital Literacy Programme’ is an initiative aimed at extending the advancements in the field of information technology to all sections of society in a practical manner, providing basic digital literacy to people of all age groups, and transforming Kerala into the first fully digitally literate state in the country. The digital literacy programme, which was initially implemented in Pullampara Grama Panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram District, declared as the first fully digitally literate Grama Panchayat in the country, was subsequently expanded across the State following the same model.

• A total of 2,57,000 volunteers across Kerala have been part of the programme. Survey activities to identify digitally non-literate persons were carried out through these volunteers. Through the data collection process, digitally non-literate persons among all citizens above the age of 14 were identified. They were subsequently provided training by trained volunteers using scientifically developed modules to impart basic digital literacy.

• Those who completed the training were subjected to an evaluation process. Those who failed the evaluation were provided with additional training and were subsequently re-evaluated. All persons between 14 and 65 years of age were included in the mandatory evaluation process. The objective of the programme is to transform Kerala into a State where all citizens have attained digital literacy.

• Information collection, training and evaluation were carried out with the support of digitally literate volunteers drawn from Kudumbashree workers, Auxiliary Group members, Literacy Mission Preraks, SC/ST Promoters, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) mates, NSS, NCC, NYK, Volunteer Force volunteers, Library Council, Youth Welfare Board, voluntary organisations, young men and women, and students. A web portal and mobile application were also developed to facilitate these activities. The complete cooperation of Local Self Government Institutions, elected representatives, various government departments and the general public contributed significantly to the successful implementation of the ‘Digi Kerala – Comprehensive Digital Literacy Programme’.

• Prior to the declaration of ‘Digi Kerala’, there were 29 Local Self Government Institutions that had already achieved or declared digital literacy through various programmes. Out of the total 1,034 Local Self Government Institutions, survey and other activities under the ‘Digi Kerala’ programme were carried out in 1,005 Local Self Government Institutions.

• Under the Digital Literacy Programme, 1,50,82,536 persons belonging to 83,45,879 families were surveyed through 2,57,000 volunteers. Of the 21,88,398 persons identified as learners, 21,87,966 learners (99.98%) completed the training. Among them, 21,87,667 learners (99.98%) successfully completed the evaluation and attained digital literacy. Among the learners identified through the survey, 16,62,784 citizens were between 14 and 65 years of age, while 15,223 citizens were above 90 years of age.

• To ensure transparency in the implementation of the ‘Digi Kerala’ programme, a district-level super-check process was completed under the leadership of the Joint Directors at the district level. In all Local Self Government Institutions where more than 10% of learners failed the super-check, all learners identified through the survey were provided with additional training.

• Third-party evaluation of the ‘Digi Kerala’ programme was conducted through the Department of Economics and Statistics.

• Information related to Survey, Training and Evaluation

  Sl no	District	Total Number of LSGIs	Total Number of Wards	Total Number of Households	Number of Families surveyed	Total Number of Padithakkal Identified	Padithakkal Completed Training	Evaluation Passed Padithakkal
  1	Alappuzha	78	1384	525036	525036	169043	168980	168979
  2	Ernakulam	96	1833	836679	836679	195658	195654	195654
  3	Idukki	54	861	260661	260661	91089	91089	91068
  4	Kannur	81	1545	588269	588269	170922	170919	170919
  5	Kasaragod	41	777	322056	322056	63914	63914	63914
  6	Kollam	73	1420	655792	655792	175457	175457	175457
  7	Kottayam	77	1344	466225	466225	72355	72355	72355
  8	Kozhikode	78	1566	735721	735721	200444	200443	200443
  9	Malappuram	106	2257	1038704	1038704	241113	240779	240510
  10	Palakkad	95	1730	726457	726457	214971	214970	214969
  11	Pathanamthitta	57	920	339665	339665	98044	98038	98038
  12	Thiruvananthapuram	78	1546	748619	748619	187416	187399	187392
  13	Thrissur	94	1794	881861	881861	230769	230766	230766
  14	Wayanad	26	512	220134	220134	77203	77203	77203
  Total		1034	19489	8345879	8345879	2188398	2187966	2187667