PANJIM: The suicide of a Class X student, due to the non-availability of a smart phone to attend his online classes, has brought the Goa government under criticism. While condoling the student’s death Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, called the incident unfortunate.
“Shocked to hear that with no money to repair mobile, a SSC student ends his life in Sattari. My condolences to his family. It is unfortunate to see a young boy taking the step of ending his life for want of money to repair a mobile phone,” the former Chief Minister added.
Kamat has appealed to students to speak about their problems with their parents or teachers for a possible solution, instead of taking an extreme step. He has also appealed to CM Pramod Sawant to immediately make operational the OFC - Intranet Facility which will resolve all issues of Online Education.
Commissioning of Intranet Facility through Optic Fibre Cable network will also help in providing various options to the students as well as the teachers with regards to gadgets, the senior Congress Leader added.
He further explained that the OFC can be connected to a Television Set, Computer or Laptop as the strength of the signal is extremely good, which ensures uninterrupted connectivity.
“I want the CM to refer to the recent report prepared by the Goa University which has clearly emphasized that Optic Fibre Cable network is the only way forward. The optimum use of the Intranet will give employment opportunity to the local cable operators who are now facing problems due to DTH services. The online networking will reduce the burden on parents as well of buying high-end smart phones. It will be easy to monitor the activity if the video transmission is received on home television or computer sets and misuse of mobile phones can be avoided,” Kamat further said.
Independent Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has slammed the government for refusing to accept ‘constructive suggestions’ resulting in unfortunate incidents. “I have been repeatedly giving pointers on the issues but this government is not in the habit of taking constructive suggestions. The need to revive the cyberage scheme was raised on several occasions. The students could have been provided with mobile phones under this scheme,” he said.
The ex-Revenue minister also hit out at BSNL for failing to provide proper connectivity, particularly in rural areas.