All hands on deck, Kerala moves digital mountain

Otthupidichaal malayum porum. The tongue-twister needs to be repeated by those who lament the digital divide in the country and then do nothing about it.

The Malayalam saying means a mountain can be moved by joining hands. People, political parties of multiple hues and celebrities in Kerala have been practising what the proverb preaches, bringing online schooling to every deprived child in the state in just over a fortnight.

In end-May, a survey had shown that 2.5 lakh pupils of the Kerala school board lacked access to online classes. The tipping point that jolted the state’s conscience came on June 2 when a schoolgirl committed suicide because she lacked a working TV set at her home and could not attend the initial classes.