Bhubaneswar: A study conducted by eight voluntary organisations from Odisha with support from New Delhi-based Partner for Change has revealed that children living in Scheduled Tribe (ST) dominated areas are deprived of access to online education.
The study collected data from 80—73 rural and seven urban— locations in eight districts – Bolangir, Bargarh, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Keonjhar, Koraput, Rayagada and Sundargarh.
According to the study, children in 46 locations do not have access to online classes. The report claimed that there are chances of dropouts among students due to the lacuna.
“Free books were not provided in 13 locations until June. In five locations, the situation is serious enough for children to dropout and go for work if the situation persists,” the report said.
The study report showed concerns about increasing indebtedness, threat of dropouts, domestic violence and child abuse, while highlighting loopholes in relief implementation.
It claimed that none of the non-card holders received any ration in any of the 80 locations as promised under Covid relief plan and only in 20 locations have some process of registering them begun June onwards.
“The registration process for ration cards for non-card holders was initiated only in 20 locations as of June. All ration card holders in these locations received their dry ration. Between April and June, card holders in 74 to 77 locations have received additional ration too,” the report said.
“In 42 locations where people who have applied for MGNREGA have not got any work under the job guarantee scheme. In 44 locations, procurement of the agricultural produce has not been undertaken by any government agencies from June onwards,” the study claimed.
Hinting at the difficulties faced by people suffering from mental illness, the study report highlighted that people suffering from mental illness are unable to get any medicine or treatment in 54 locations.
THE GREAT DIGITAL DIVIDE
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, in 2018, total internet density in the country stood at about 49 per cent. Of that, 25 per cent lived in rural areas and 98 per cent in urban areas. Access to electricity is crucial for digital education, both for powering devices as well as for connecting to the internet. A nationwide survey of villages by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2017-18, showed that 16 per cent of India’s households received one to eight hours of electricity daily, 33 per cent got 9-12 hours and only 47 per cent received more than 12 hours of power supply daily.
Erratic power supply only exacerbates the existing digital divide, which is evident across class, gender, region and place of residence. According to the National Sample Survey Organisation (2018) estimates, among the poorest 20 per cent households, only 2.7 per cent have access to a computer and 8.9 per cent to internet facilities. In the case of the top 20 per cent households, the proportions are 27.6 per cent and 50.5 per cent, respectively.