Unicode Hindi and Internet literacy

[Virendra Pal Singh]

Dear Members,

In the field of knowledge, humanity's greatest achievement is the
Internet. By combining the computer and telephone technologies,
miraculous change has been brought about in the field of information and
communications. If a person cannot use the Internet, he/she is
considered functionally illiterate.

E-mail, e-commerce, e-governance etc. could be possible only through the
Internet. By setting up a website on the Internet, anyone can publish
and propagate his/her thoughts and activities. Any information in the
world can be obtained on the Internet almost instantly without any expense.

Presently, the entire world is using the Internet, but some countries
are using it more and some less. In India, about 5 per cent population
uses the Internet. This is very low in comparison to developed countries
where Internet is used by more than 70 per cent people.

In India, English is considered to be the only language on the Internet.
This situation is, however, changing through the Unicode. Most of the
world's languages can be seen on the Internet in Unicode format. Indian
languages, especially Hindi, are now visible on the Internet through
Unicode.

Hindi is India's national language and also the world's third most
spoken language. It is necessary that the use of Hindi on the Internet
is increased and appropriate steps taken in this respect. Otherwise,
Hindi-speaking people will be left behind in the field of information,
communications and knowledge.

Hindi-speaking people having no access to the Internet fall in two
categories. In the first category, there are people who are literate in
Hindi but do not know how to use the Internet. In the second category,
there are people who cannot read or write Hindi at all.

Use of the Internet through Unicode has become very simple for literate
people. Information, news, literature etc. in Unicode Hindi are now
available in abundance. Facilities for translation into and from Hindi
to other languages are also available on the Internet.

Hindi-speaking illiterate people can be taught to read and write Hindi
in a simple way through Romanaagrii and SARAL Hindi scripts. After
learning the simplified script of Hindi, they can easily use the
Internet. Simple lessons on the Internet can also be effective tools for
self-learning.

Rational arguments and detailed information about Hindi language,
scripts, Unicode, Romanaagrii and SARAL Hindi are available on the
www.saralhindi.com <http://www.saralhindi.com> website. Hindi-Urdu
literature in different scripts is also availabe. This website provides
an appropriate method for promoting Hindi literacy.

Virendra