Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday provided 175 smart televisions for tribal students in Kalpetta town of Wayanad district for the online classes launched by the State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan amid the coronavirus lockdown.
Kerala government is running 'First Bell' - virtual classes for school students of the state, through the KITE Victers channel and other online mechsms, when the schools are closed amid COVID19 pandemic.
The 175 smart televisions is a part of the second phase of the contribution made by Rahul Gandhi in his constituency to provide adequate infrastructure for the students for the online classes.
On the occasion of Rahul Gandhi's birthday, 50 television were handed over to the district administration to provide online learning to tribal students.
District Congress Committee President IC Balakrishnan reached out to the MP's office in Kalpetta to review the procedures related to the distribution of television. Balakrishnan said, "As MP, Rahul Gandhi has received a lot of support during the lockdown. When the online study was launched on June 1, many tribal students from Wayanad were out of the project due to a lack of learning facilities."
"Following that, Rahul Gandhi had written a letter to the Chief Minister and Wayanad District Collector Adeela Abdullah. The district collector had provided the figures for the tribal students in need of the facility. He has also distributed over 100 televisions each in the constituency in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts," Balakrishnan added.Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had written to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan drawing his attention to the plight of a large number of tribal students in Wayanad unable to benefit from "First Bell" initiative by the state government due to lack of access to electronic devices or internet.
The Wayanad MP, while stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges for classroom teaching this year, said that the 'First Bell' initiative by the Kerala Government is an "innovative move towards establishing digital classrooms".
In his letter to the Kerala Chief Minister, dated June 1, the Congress leader said: "While it serves as a temporary alternative, its success depends on students' access to digital infrastructures like computers, smartphones, cable television and reliable internet connections."
The Congress leader offered his support and assistance towards the procurement of devices for students.
"This is particularly troubling given the high dropout rates among tribal students in the district. I would be glad to extend my support and assistance towards the procurement of devices for students in underserved communities and request that you share with me details of these communities and their specific requirements," he said in the letter to District Collector.
( With inputs from ANI )