<p>Thiruvananthapuram: As Kerala gears up to be formally declared as a digitally literate state, 105-year-old Abdullah Moulavi and 103-year-old Karunakara Panicker are telling the world that age is not a barrier for attaining digital literacy.</p><p>The centenarians are among the 21.8 lakh people who have been imparted digital literacy as part of the Kerala government's 'DigiKerala" digital literacy programme.</p>.Going digital | Kerala leaders embrace technology as elections near.<p>Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will declare the state as a total digital literate state on Thursday (August 22) as 99.8 percent of the people in the 14-65 age group in the state are found to be digitally literate.</p><p>Even as the programme launched in 2022 by the state local self government department targeted only people up to the age of 65, the programme witnessed the participation of many beyond the age limits.</p><p>Sarasamma alias Sarasu, 73, a MG National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme worker from Pullampara on the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, not only acquired digital literacy, but also started a YouTube channel to share her songs and knowledge.</p><p>Many like Moulavi and Panicker were introduced to smartphones during the time of Covid-19 lockdown. It indeed developed the interest in them to be part of state government's DigiKerala drive that was implemented with the help of volunteers, which included students and members of the Kudumbasree women empowerment programme among others. </p><p>Kerala local self government minister M B Rajesh called on Moulavi on Monday and gifted him a smartphone for being the eldest person to be part of the campaign. Moulavi also performed his digital skills before the minister - chatting, gaining knowledge through browsing and making video calls.</p><p>"It's the real Kerala story. Many centenarians are proving that age is not the limit for learning," the minister said.</p><p>Panicker, who is from Thiruvananthapuram, was fortunate enough to have his 74 year old son Rajan for combined learning. </p><p>"It was during Covid that we got acquainted with smartphones. It was a great relief as we could go anywhere in the world using our smartphones," says Rajan.</p><p>Leaning modules for the DigiKerala initiative included basics of smartphones to making payments and accessing government services. </p><p>In 1991 Kerala was declared as a total literate state as over 99 per cent of state's population attained literacy through a campaign.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: As Kerala gears up to be formally declared as a digitally literate state, 105-year-old Abdullah Moulavi and 103-year-old Karunakara Panicker are telling the world that age is not a barrier for attaining digital literacy.</p><p>The centenarians are among the 21.8 lakh people who have been imparted digital literacy as part of the Kerala government's 'DigiKerala" digital literacy programme.</p>.Going digital | Kerala leaders embrace technology as elections near.<p>Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will declare the state as a total digital literate state on Thursday (August 22) as 99.8 percent of the people in the 14-65 age group in the state are found to be digitally literate.</p><p>Even as the programme launched in 2022 by the state local self government department targeted only people up to the age of 65, the programme witnessed the participation of many beyond the age limits.</p><p>Sarasamma alias Sarasu, 73, a MG National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme worker from Pullampara on the suburbs of Thiruvananthapuram, not only acquired digital literacy, but also started a YouTube channel to share her songs and knowledge.</p><p>Many like Moulavi and Panicker were introduced to smartphones during the time of Covid-19 lockdown. It indeed developed the interest in them to be part of state government's DigiKerala drive that was implemented with the help of volunteers, which included students and members of the Kudumbasree women empowerment programme among others. </p><p>Kerala local self government minister M B Rajesh called on Moulavi on Monday and gifted him a smartphone for being the eldest person to be part of the campaign. Moulavi also performed his digital skills before the minister - chatting, gaining knowledge through browsing and making video calls.</p><p>"It's the real Kerala story. Many centenarians are proving that age is not the limit for learning," the minister said.</p><p>Panicker, who is from Thiruvananthapuram, was fortunate enough to have his 74 year old son Rajan for combined learning. </p><p>"It was during Covid that we got acquainted with smartphones. It was a great relief as we could go anywhere in the world using our smartphones," says Rajan.</p><p>Leaning modules for the DigiKerala initiative included basics of smartphones to making payments and accessing government services. </p><p>In 1991 Kerala was declared as a total literate state as over 99 per cent of state's population attained literacy through a campaign.</p>