Thiruvananthapuram, May 24 (IANS): All the 1,284 registered tribal hamlets in Kerala will be digitally connected, thanks to the efforts of the BSNL and the support by the state ministry for SC/ST.

At a meeting with the top BSNL officials on Wednesday, the state Minister for SC/ST, K.Radhakrishnan assured to provide appropriate land for the purpose.

"Of the 1,284 tribal hamlets, 1,073 of them have connectivity. Another 211 do not have digital connectivity and for them also to go digital, 161 towers have to be installed by the BSNL. We have assured them that suitable land to erect these towers will be identified where they can put up their towers and we will do it before June 15th," said Radhakrishnan.

According to the figures provided by the State Planning Board, in Kerala, there are close to half a million tribal population, with Wayanad district having the highest of around 1.5 lakh and the least is Alappuzha district with close to 7,000.