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D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram
Microsoft Corporation chairman Bill Gates has agreed to support Kerala government's ambitious e-literacy project.
The project, aimed at making Kerala the first e-literate state in India by 2005, is scheduled to be launched by President A P J Abdul Kalam on November 18.
The project has been christened 'Akshaya -- Bridging Digital Divide in Kerala.'
A delegation of Kerala government led by Industries and Information Technology Minister P K Kunhalikutty called on Gates in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The All India Radio quoted Kunhalikutty saying that the Microsoft chief also agreed to consider Kerala for investments. He also accepted an invitation to visit Kerala during his next trip to the country in 2003.
The e-literacy project will be implemented jointly by the Kerala IT Mission and the Department of Science and Technology with tie-ups with local bodies and voluntary agencies.
The project aims to connect each household in the state with local self-government bodies through the Internet. A software to send and receive e-mails in Malayalam is under development.
The pilot project, which aims to train half a million people in handling computers, general business practices, government services and social welfare activities, is ready for implementation in Malappuram district.
Multipurpose community training centres set up under the pilot project will train people in income-generating ventures like providing content to portals and research institutions, data entry, desktop publishing, Internet browsing, VoIP calls, Web-based matchmaking, real estate, placement and other related services.
Microsoft had evinced interest in the Kerala IT@School project aimed at providing computer education to school children, but the previous Left Democratic Front government did not evince interest in involving the multinational in the project due to ideological reasons.
Former Chief Minister E K Nayanar had rejected an invitation extended by Microsoft to meet Bill Gates at the company's Redmond headquarters in the late nineties.
A powerful section is still opposed to Microsoft's presence in the state.
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