Until recently, Abdullah’s knowledge of phones did not extend beyond making calls on a basic Nokia handset. That’s when the government’s Digi Kerala project volunteers found him.
Thiruvananthapuram: The government taught, and the children too. This is how M A Abdullah Maulavi Bafaqi, nearing the age of 105, went digital. Sharing the joy of becoming digitally literate, Abdullah Maulavi of ‘Santhosham’ house at Oodakkali in Perumbavoor expressed his happiness over the phone itself.
Until recently, Abdullah’s knowledge of phones did not extend beyond making calls on a basic Nokia handset. That’s when the government’s Digi Kerala project volunteers found him. Abdullah’s digital aspirations became a reality within a few months. He has no memory loss or vision impairment. YouTube is now his favourite. He occasionally browses Facebook too—though he says that’s not essential.
His lessons were on the smartphone of his son Faizal Ali, who works at the Rice Research Centre in Kayamkulam. His grandchildren—Aysha Naseefa, Shakir Ali and Muhammad Aman—and the government’s volunteers were his ‘teachers’. Thus, Abdullah became one among the 21,87,677 people in Kerala who achieved complete digital literacy. Abdullah now has just one wish—to have his son transferred to the Oodakkali Agricultural Research Centre so that he can be closer. This is his humble request to the ministers.
Among those who completed the training, even people above 100 are now browsing WhatsApp, YouTube and Facebook. Those who failed the test were re-taught to achieve total digital literacy in Kerala. Although the initial target was people aged between 14 and 65, it was later extended to include individuals from 14 to 105 years of age. Youngsters and teenagers under the Local Self Government Department took up the responsibility of teaching. Special classes were also arranged at job sites for MGNREGA workers.
The aim was not just to teach smartphone usage, but to make internet usage smart and safe as well—empowering people to pay bills and send applications using their phones. On August 21, Kerala will be officially declared the country’s first digitally literate state—with a success rate of 99.99%—in a ceremony at Thiruvananthapuram.
A picture of Kerala digital literacy: 15221 people above 90 years of age
Like Abdullah, there were 15,221 people between the ages of 91 and 105 who embraced digital literacy. The survey covered 83,45,879 households. The number of digitally illiterate people was 21,88,398, comprising 8,05,588 men, 13,81,166 women and 1,644 transgender persons. Of the 21,87,966 people who took the training, 21,87,677 passed the exam.
Published: 14 Aug 2025, 08:02 am IST
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