The Hindu Business Line : Kerala IT Mission to launch CDs on health, education

The four CDs in Malayalam have been developed under the aegis of the IT Mission's `Akshaya' initiative, explained Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary-Information Technology, Government of Kerala, while speaking at a meeting organised to review the contents of the CDs.

Despite the popularity of the Internet, there is a paucity of Malayalam content on the Net that will meet the information needs of ordinary people, she said. The CDs that are being developed by the IT Mission are part of the effort to address this issue, she explained.

The CDs, which contain over 25,000 pages of Malayalam content, have been developed with the guidance of experts from each domain, said Ms Sundararajan. The CDs will initially be available at the `Akshaya Centres' in Malappuram district.

And as the Akshaya project is launched in other parts of the State, the CDs will be available at the Akshaya Centres in these areas, she explained. The IT Mission is also looking at putting the content from the CDs on the Internet, she added.

The project to create content in Malayalam is actually one aspect of the Akshaya project launched to "bridge the digital divide", say IT Mission officials.

The CDs contain detailed information on the four themes - education, agriculture, health and acts and rules.

For instance, the CD on health not only deals with various health-related issues, but also has a database on all healthcare institutions in the State. Similarly, the CD on education goes beyond education and highlights various employment options available to young people. Information on the courses available at various educational institutions in Kerala, details of various financing options including scholarships, sample aptitude tests and so on are contained on this CD.

Similarly, the CD on agriculture contains all sorts of information that is likely to be of interest to an agriculturist. Information included in this CD covers some 35 major crops cultivated in Kerala, information on common plant diseases and their treatment and so on.