First Nenasala specially dedicated for Police Department launched

A Nenasala (wisdom outlet) was set up for the improvement of the iCT knowledge of the police department staff and their children recently.

The ICT Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) says that this Nenasala was set up in the new library premises of the Crimes Reporting Division situated in Colombo 7.

According to ICTA this is the first Nenasala set up for the Sri Lanka Police Department.

Delivering his admonition at the inauguration of the Nenasala,  Chief Incumbent of the Colombo 10 Sri Bauddhaaraamaa Venerable Lunugamvehera Wimala Nanda Thero said that an invaluable service was rendered  by the library towards creating a society equipped wisdom and virtue. The prelate said further that people in a society distancing themselves from consulting books try to solve problems not with knowledge and intelligence but by physical force.

Participating in the occasion Senior DIG Gamini Navaratne said that people living in a society that renews itself with each day and each moment could not go forward without a knowledge that is in keeping with modern times.

The Senior DIG added that it had been possible to gain knowledge easily, thanks to ICT. Underlining the purpose of setting up Nenasalas, the Senior DIG said that the main purpose of setting up Nensalas was to make the benefits of ICT accrue to the village. He pointed out that the fact that the majority of the Police Department hailed from distant villages was a shot in the arm in the fulfilment of the goal of the Nenasala project.

Nenasala project is the National Development Project for empowering the rural community with ICT. The project implemented by ICTA is a brainchild of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  

Speaking on the concept of Nenasala, the wisdom outlet, President Rajapaksa has said that he believes that Nenasala can re-establish the religion-centred education model that existed in Sri Lanka during the ancient times. Further emphasising the sole intention of the project, the President has reiterated that the Government’s aim in implementing the Nenasala project is to take all the dividends of ICT to every village and every citizen.

A Nenasala or “wisdom outlet” is a centre that provides multiple Information Communication Technology (ICT) based services to the community.  It acts as a hub of local, national and global information resources that has a catalytic effect on the rural communities in poverty reduction, social and economic development and peace building.

The e-Sri Lanka Development Project initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka aims to provide access to “diverse and unrestricted sources of information and means of communication” to all citizens.

The objective of the Nenasala Project is to upgrade the living standards of all rural communities across Sri Lanka with equal affordable access to ICT based services.

The Nenasalas acts as a resource centres in  the village to disseminate knowledge and share information through the internet with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty, peace building, economic and social development and improvement of  the country’s IT literacy. Nenasalas provide a range of services including high speed internet access to national as well as local and international information, e-mail, telephone, computer training classes and other ICT related services.  The content essential to the rural community is available to all users in the Sinhala and Tamil languages.

The Nenasalas provide not only internet and e-mail facilities but also cater to the diverse needs of the village community including agriculture, fisheries, trade, ayurvedic medicine and homeopathy.  ICT training, internet, e-mail , scanning, printing and fax, computer services, education, photocopy, agriculture and health information, bill payments, citizen services and information are among the services provided by the 667 Nenasalas island-wide including the North and East.