Managing life in the era of cashless transactions is not an uphill task for these senior citizens from Kozhikode district. The 200 neo-computer literates trained by the Kozhikode District Panchayat’s Skill Development Centre (SDC) are well-equipped to do e-transactions like the younger generation.
Their trainers said the senior citizens, who voluntarily attended the SDC’s short-term computer programmes in the past two years, were able to do online transactions such as bill payments, fund transfer and online purchase. The latest batch comprised 18 persons who completed their course on Thursday and joined the group of silver surfers in the city, they said.
“For me, it was quite a different experience to train the elderly who were curious to experience the digital revolution and upgrade themselves with the new developments. To begin with, we initiated them into the world of social media and slowly took them to more serious lessons,” said V.P. Rajesh, a faculty member at SDC. He said 12 batches completed training under the SDC within the past two years.
N.M. Thomas, one of the student of the outgoing batch, said he learned Microsoft Excel, online banking and bill payments from the course. The 56-year-old, who recently retired from the Audit Department, is also confident of handling social media. “Online ticket booking and bill payment options literally kindled my interest,” he said.
SDC officials said the special training programme was designed for the elderly by understanding their limitations. “It was because of that we got even an 82-year-old learner from West Hill who wanted to know the basic computer programmes and e-services,” they said.
