75% of ‘Bharat Natives’ Intertested in Digital Learning in Regional Languages

Lokal, a hyperlocal social media platform, released their survey insights on Union Budget 2022, capturing the sentiments of the Tier 2 and 3 cities of India. The theme of the survey was ‘Budget for Digital Bharat’, on the account of special digital initiatives launched by the government to aid masses with education, upskilling and modern agriculture needs. The survey saw a participation of about 58,000 respondents across ages 22-40 years, from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat. It was hosted in native languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati and Malayalam.

Budget 2022 took giant leaps in order to make digital opportunities remotely accessible to the natives of Bharat. Testifying this, 75% citizens of Bharat are willing to adopt digital learning initiatives in regional languages. The highest receptiveness in the southern states was shown by respondents from Karnataka (80%), followed by Telugu (77%), Tamil Nadu (72%) and Kerala (69%). Whereas in the west, 73% respondents from Gujarat, and 55% from Maharashtra showed interest in embracing these initiatives. The higher percentage of acceptance is a result of these initiatives being a cutting edge solution to students battling with limited digital infrastructure. 

Deep diving further to understand the most preferred initiative, the survey finds out that 61% of the total respondents were looking forward to the study modules and technical tools being offered in native languages as a part of digital university, followed by 27% for PM e-Vidya programme of 'One Class, One TV programme' and 12% for DESH Stack e-portal. The DESH Stack e-portal is an extraordinary arrangement for students and youth for professional upskilling, re-skilling and cross skilling. 

When asked about their best takeaway, 36% of respondents consider the legalization of crypto currency as the best takeaway from the budget. Given the state authorities efforts to promote next generation technologies, the highest respondent (53%) in favour of crypto currency were from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. On the other hand, respondents from Tamil Nadu (50%), Kerala (48%), Gujarat (46%), Maharashtra (45%) and Karnataka (31%) consider agriculture specific initiatives such as Kisan drones, chemical free farming and the Ken-Betwa project to benefit them the most. 53% of the total respondents believe that the Union Budget 2022 addressed the concerns of towns and villages of Bharat.