Software will be installed in State Govt.'s kiosks in villages

The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has launched a new CD (compact disc) of software, tools and fonts in Gujarati. The software and fonts will be installed in kiosks set by the state government in more than 16,000 villages so that people in rural areas are able to use the computer in Gujarati.

"The software, applications and tools can be installed in any operating system. It also has various types of Gujarati fonts. The CD also contains conversion dictionaries -- Gujarati to Gujarati. It has lakhs of idioms, antonyms, thesaurus and other various facilities," said Director General of C-DAC, S. Ramakrishnan. The CD of software was launched by C-DAC on Gujarat Day on Thursday. Joint Secretary and Financial Advisor, Department of IT, Government of India, E. K. Bharat Bhushan and Secretary of Department of Science and Technology, Gujarat government, Raj Kumar were also present. "We are keen to take the software in rural areas where English language is not commonly used. Through this, the communication will be easier for the people in rural areas," said Rajkumar.

Launching of the software in the regional language was the result of a long research. "C-DAC and other private companies are working and carrying out research on the project for over 15 years. Finally, we launched CDs in 10 Indian regional languages, while Gujarati is 11th. Next will be Bengali," said Ramakrishnan.