Author(s): K Venkatesan, Saravana Selvi C and KS Pushpa

Abstract:
There exist around 192 integrated tribal development projects and integrated tribal development agencies spread over 19 states and Union territories. In all these interventions, the emphasis on integrating information technologies (IT) is totally absent. Tribal citizens need the benefits of digital inclusion. The tribal clusters need dedicated focus on digital skills and literacy. There is an urgent need for digital means to reach out to the communities with connectivity and access. Therefore, the Government initiated an appropriate action to spread the IT knowledge in all the rural areas of Andaman & Nicobar Island. For this noble reason, the Government has sanctioned a project and implemented the same through Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Chennai. The paramount activities were to impart training to the tribes of A&N. The project commenced in 2014 and it was concluded in 2017. The main aim of the paper is to assess the expectations, knowledge in e-learning of the trainees and to evaluate the impact of training programme. A well Structured Questionnaire was used to collect the data, the data were analysed and interpreted through frequency tables. The study concluded that 49.3% of the trainees have basic skills in IT and they had only average knowledge in Adobe Photoshop, Web design, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Dream weaver, Adobe illustrator and Graphic Design.