Kerala Achieves 100% Mobile Density, 75% E-Literacy; Declared As India’s First Digital State

Due to their impeccable track record in implementing Digital India vision, Kerala has achieved the distinction of becoming India’s first 100% Digital state.

During the Independence Day celebrations at Central Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala CM Oommen Chandy officially announced this new feat.

As per Oommen, Kerala is the only state in the country which has achieved 100% mobile density, which means that each and every citizen in Kerala has a mobile phone now and 75% of their citizen are e-literate. The state also has the highest digital banking rate and they have efficiently introduced broadband Internet connection upto all village panchayats.

He further said, “The implementation of e-district programs in all districts and linking of Aadhaar and bank accounts have laid a strong foundation for Digital Kerala.I am proud to declare the state as the complete digital state, based on these indicators.”

In the coming days, some of the programs which the State Govt. will implement are:

• WiFi Hotspots at all local self-Government institutions
• Implementation of mobile governance across the whole state
• Formation of atleast one startup from every state university, which would be based on the ideas submitted by college students
• Optimal utilization of Central Govt.’s ‘Bharat Net’ project, which will spread Internet across each and every household, with an average speed of 2MBPS to 20 MBPS.
• The existing team of ‘Virtual IT Cadre’ will be expanded to include more team members. This team makes sure that all the Govt. initiatives of e-governance are properly implemented and handle sudden issues which may crop up.
• Teaching all Govt. employees about e-Governance via dedicated educational programs. As of now, around 75 Govt. officials have earned PG Diploma in E-Governance

In memory of former President, late A P J Abdul Kalam, the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment has launched a new program called, “Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Youth Challenge”. This program will encourage study and development of Science based subjects and inspire students to use technology as a platform for creating path breaking innovations.

In December, 2012, Kerala had openly declared that they will aim to make the state 100% Digital in the next 3 years. With this announcement, Kerala has fulfilled its promise and scripted a new chapter in the Digital India story.