With a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic expected and school students unlikely to return to classes for a while, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday asked telecom internet providers to see that they beef up connectivity across the state. He made the request at his meeting with telecom providers after complaints arose of a digital divide as schools began their online classes on June 1. A high-level committee of bureaucrats and representatives of telecom companies has been formed to prepare a road map for this.

Vijayan said their aim is to ensure that each and every student in the state gets proper internet connectivity because no one should miss online classes. He pointed out that connectivity is a problem for the tribal community and of the 86,423 tribal students, around a fourth - 20,493 students - had no connectivity and this should be taken up on a war footing. Vijayan also wanted the telecom providers to see how best they can provide high speed internet connectivity as that is a must for live online classes which are being planned. The new committee has been asked to submit their report next week.