Tech Divide Hampers COVID Inoculation Drive in India's Rural Areas   

NEW DELHI - Residents in North India’s rural Kangra district say they have been anxious to get vaccinated for COVID-19 after a second wave of the pandemic created havoc and ravaged villages last month.    

While tech savvy, digitally aware city dwellers have managed to get shots, millions in rural areas are being left behind because of a technology barrier. Registering on the official website called CoWIN, they say, has been a challenge for many residents like Harnam Singh — who only has an old-fashioned feature phone and no internet connection.      “I have a simple phone. I don’t even know how smart phones operate,” Singh said with a shrug.     After widening its inoculation drive to all adults last month, the government in India made it mandatory for those between 18 and 45 years old to register on a digital portal for a shot. The move created a divide between people in towns and cities at an advantage in getting shots while millions in rural areas were jostled out of vaccine lines because they did not have smart phones or adequate resources.