These words were spoken by Sir Aarish when he was showing us different case studies regarding technological advancements in the world. And although I wanted to ask him this question there and then that why bother investing millions in providing internet services to the remote area when most of them won’t even know how to get benefits from it, I didn’t. Because I though why not instead invest that money to make the education facilities better there?
The internet users are increasing exponentially in the rural areas of our country. The children might not have ‘luxuries’ like clean water in those regions but they would definitely have TikTok in their mobile phones. Thousands of videos can be seen on tiktok from people of the rural areas where children will be seen living in poverty-stricken circumstances. Now I’m not saying that they should not be provided with these facilities, what I’m saying is there are more important things that people over there need. Internet could be termed as a ‘want’ over there but not certainly a need. Clean water is a need which unfortunately is kind of a “luxury’ there. Education and electricity are the needs but people over there won’t even have basic education. That is the circumstances in which rural people are living. On top of it, if they get access to gadgets like cellphone and facilities like internet, they won’t know their right usage. We would only see Tiktok videos from the people there.
It could be said these internet facilities help rural people connect with the rest of the world and people can buy stuff online from E-stores or get the required things delivered. But would they be really able to connect with the world when there’s this big educational gap between the people living in rural and urban areas. Instead of making the city markets and opportunities available to them through internet, why not work on the infrastructure of the remote areas and install organizations there for the benefit of people.
It could just never be enough to provide internet facilities there. A lot of work needs to be done in certain areas like education. Internet has provided many opportunities to the people there as well but the main concern of mine is that the children there are not using it for any good. The rise of PUBG and TitkTok in the rural areas tells us a lot about the intended usage of internet there.
If people can come up with internet solutions like Buffalogrid, they can certainly come up with solutions for scarce electricity in the rural areas. They can undoubtedly work for the unhygienic conditions in those areas which are affecting the health of thousands of children there.
These ‘mobile power’ projects can be appreciated more if they would help rural people getting education. A cellphone is a powerful gadget and it’s usage will tell whether it’s serviceable or just a means of useless activities.
Tools & Technology in Art Education 