First Nenasala revamped

The country's first Nenasala inaugurated by the then Premier, President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Kataragama Kirivehera sacred precincts on January 1, 2005 has been revamped.

The first of the 741 wisdom outlets spread throughout the country, the Kirivehera Nenasala has been modernised.

According to an ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) spokesman, Nenasala Telecentres (wisdom outlets) set up islandwide including the North and the East provinces have yielded positive results, despite the high failure of telecentres in the international arena.

ICTA, CEO Reshan Dewapura said that Sri Lanka's telecentre model Nenasala is an example of the successful implementation of the telecentre concept. The success of telecentres set up in developing countries is only around 25 percent. But in Sri Lanka the success of the Nenasala project is more than 68 percent. The Nenasala project has shown its positive impact on Sri Lankan society tangibly. ICT literacy has leapfrogged from 4 percent in 2004 to nearly 40 percent today.

Farmers, vegetable vendors, fishermen, students and teachers visit Nenasalas close to their residence to obtain the benefits of ICT and follow a comfortable lifestyle, he said.

The regional and international community has welcomed the Nenasala concept as a model for many other countries. According to a survey, more than 200,000 persons benefit monthly from the Nenasalas set up islandwide.