This
surely is a first: Trikaripur, which has a place in Kerala's history for
more reasons than one, is all set to add yet another feather to its cap
when on Monday 20 percent of its 42,000 population gets access to Wi-Fi
and that too for free. The remaining population would be covered within
three months.
"This
service would be launched on Monday. To start with, free Wi-fi access
would be available in a two kilometre radius (from the base station). In
another three months the service would cover our entire village
council. We understand that we are the first village council in the
country to go into free Wi-Fi mode," Trikaripur grama panachayat
president A.G.C. Basheer told IANS.
The
Trikaripur area is where Kerala's first Communist-led peasant rebellion
occurred in the early 1940s and the then British rulers hanged four
young men for their role in the uprising. It is also the place from
where legendary CPI-M veteran E.K.Nayanar, who was thrice the chief
minister, was elected twice. And, from the beginning of 2015, the
Trikaripur village council would become a paperless e-office.
Basheer
said Trikaripur is essentially a commercial centre and its traders do
most of their business in Bangalore. "Many of those from here who travel
to Bangalore told us about Wi-Fi and we decided to find out about it.
We talked to many IT experts and then appointed a consultant who gave us
the directions to install it. Trial runs have been successful and on
Monday, we would go live," said Basheer, adding that the service will be
provided though the optical fibre network of state-run Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Limited (BSNL).
Intending
users have to log into the webpage of Trikaripur village council from
their mobile phones. A password is provided to access the internet. To
prevent misuse, access is provided for only 15 minutes. The process then
has to be repeated all over again after a 10-minute gap. T.M.C.
Ibrahim, a state government employee, expressed happiness at the
service.
"After I
came to know about this, I checked up with people who are well versed in
the field and they said since Trikaripur comes under the BSNL's optical
fibre network, things will be fine," Ibrahim told IANS. The Wi-Fi base
centre will operate from a building owned by the village council and
cost Rs.300,000, which was raised internally. The council would also
incur a recurring monthly expenditure of Rs.5,000.
