Comments
At first glance, the motley group of youngsters perched on stone ledges at the hilly highway in Kerala’s Idukki district might attract censure for being immersed in their mobile phone screens rather than the lovely scenery or wildlife.
But these are students attending online classes in one of the few spots in this Western Ghats region with mobile connectivity. Welcome to the Eravikulam National Park at Munnar, home to the endangered Nilgiri Tahr, and now the open air classroom for youngsters from nearby Rajamalai.
For the past year, ever since the pandemic began, the students, who are wards of tea estate workers in the region, have been spending five-six hours inside the National Park. The fifty odd students – from school goers to college co-eds and a lone MBA — walk some 12 km from Rajamalai to Eravikulam to access precious 3G connectivity. They are now worried over disruption to as the South-West monsoon can set in any time.
R Varun Ganapaty, the 23-year-old MBA student of a private institution in Kochi, told BusinessLine that public sector BSNL is the only service provider in the area and even 2G services are not fully available.
Monsoon impact
After completing his B.Com, Ganapaty worked as an accountant in a private resort in Munnar. But the resort shut after Covid-19 struck, and he turned to pursue an MBA to secure his career and living. Now, with the monsoon clouding sustained 3G connectivity, he fears his studies will be disrupted. His faculty at the institute is aware of his situation and has offered help, he says.
Francis Jacob, Principal General Manager, Telecom, BSNL, Ernakulam Business Area, said that fibre network is the only solution to provide connectivity to the area, but it is not feasible due to the high cost involved. Besides, Rajamalai comes under a Reserve Forest area so there is the issue of clearances. Rajamalai is not the only area without net connectivity in Kerala. There are several inaccessible tribal areas that do not have the facility. It is estmated that more than 40,000 students in Kerala are not getting sufficient Net connectivity to take classes.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.