Kerala Becomes India’s First Digital State. Here Are 5 Reasons Why.

High mobile penetration and access to internet are among the reasons for Kerala to become a digital state.

By Meryl Garcia

February 27, 2016

Kerala is all set to become India’s first digital state. President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a two-day visit to the state, will make the announcement on Saturday.

It has achieved this status due to the various steps taken by successive governments since 2002.

Here are five reasons why Kerala is a digital state:

Kerala has the highest mobile penetration

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Photo source: Flickr/Eirik Neweth

It has more than 31 million connections for a population of 33 million. Smart phone usage is also on the rise.

Many households have access to the Internet

kerala comp

Photo source: ictpost.com

Nearly 20% of households have Internet penetration through broadband and 15% of households access the Internet through cell phones. Kerala is also the first state to complete the National Optic Fibre Network Project, by providing high-speed Internet to all gram panchayats and remote areas.

Akshaya centres bridge the digital divide

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Photo source: wikimapia.org

Over 2,300 Akshaya centres across the state provide services like electricity and water bill payments, issuing of Aadhaar and PAN cards, etc.

Children are computer literate

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Photo source: mountmarypublicschool.com

The IT@School is a project of the Department of General Education in Kerala. It was started with the objective of making four lakh school students computer literate every year. Today, more than 39 lakh students have a reasonable degree of computer literacy.

Most of the government offices are paperless

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Photo source: idukki.nic.in

Many government offices in the state function are paperless. More than 3,000 offices, including motor vehicles and land registration departments, are fully computerised.

Featured image source: ictpost.com

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