When Kerala announced that internet access was now a basic human right, one can only imagine how delighted every millennial was. The state’s Finance Minister, Thomas Issac, the man behind this announcement, also said that the Government would be providing free internet access to everyone in the state.

Unlike the Mumbai Government’s initiative to provide free Wi-Fi from designated hotspots around the city, the Kerala Government wants to ‘extend broadband connectivity to almost every house in the state.’ As part of the state’s budget plans, they will be working on the development of a network called K-FON (Kerala Fibre Optic Network) in a span of 18 months. The project will cost an estimated INR 1,000 crores, and plans have been made to lay optical fibre cables parallel to the Kerala State Electricity Board lines. TOI reported that the budget also proposed setting up WiFi transmission centres at Akshaya Centres, Friends Janasevana Kendras, government offices, libraries, and other public services. These spots will remain under the control of the government, although the services will remain free of cost.

Access to the internet not only provides for a citizen’s right to freedom of speech and expression, but social media is also currently the driving force behind several movements in India. For example, movements such as #IAmNotAfraidOfABVP, #IWillGoOut, and the infamous #StandWithJNU all gathered momentum due to the internet’s many denizens. Considering Kerala is a state that boasts of India’s highest literacy rate, and a 100% primary education rate, this decision certainly proves that the state is only focusing on moving forward.

Other highlights of their budget include setting aside — INR 10,000 to hand out to 10,000 young artists of the state, INR 68 crore towards women protection, and INR 1260 crore towards women development. Women development corporations are getting INR 8 crore, while Gender Parks are being allotted INR 10 crore.