Thiruvallur: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Ashok metha K of Thiruvallur district is serving the citizens of his gram panchayat under PMGDISHA with this motto.

Ashok started imparting digital literacy in his village as he saw that almost all services have been digitised. “No person in my village should lag behind in this digital world,” said Ashok.

Enrolling ladies from self-help groups and NREGA, he started the training programme. He taught them to operate the digital devices and how to access the information. The VLE also taught them how to avail the services through the internet.

“Initially, the citizens were hesitant. However, their attitude changed when the VLE started awareness for the scheme at their doorsteps. People began responding positively. Now almost every house has the internet service,” said he.

He also started enrolling the Christian community, which is dominant in the village. The people have begun to bear the fruit and they have started availing the e-services.