In Delhi's Kalkaji area, the number of children using the free facility has risen to 80 from only ten, Dr Sugata Mitra, chief of the research and development wing of NIIT, said.

``In the first three months the children were only onlookers, now they are demanding more software,'' Dr Mitra said. The kiosk functions in a semi-pucca room at a slum in the Capital.

At Shivpuri village in Uttar Pradesh, more than 60 children are using the Internet facility installed in May, he said at the 17th annual conference of the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology here today.

Provision of free access to Internet could revolutionise basic education in the country if suitable material is given to the children, he said. This would provide a sound literacy base for millions of poor children, Dr Mitra added.

Internet kiosks in slums exist in China, Indonesia and somecountries in Africa. Unlike in India, teachers assist children in these places, Dr Mitra said.

The kiosks are taken care of by the children themselves who keep a strict vigil on the costly equipment.

The Government was keen to provide Internet connections through a local call from any part of the country and had spent about Rs 200 crore to benefit the Internet service providers for whom 142 licences had so far been given, said Parameswaran, deputy director general (licensing and regulation), Department of Telecommunications who was also present at the conference.

He said the Internet traffic had increased by 30 per cent during the past few months and the Government expected it to increase further.

Cybermail could reach out to the common man in a big way covering telebanking, teleshopping and several other commercial activities through the Internet, Dr Dhruv Nath, vice-president, Internet commerce of NIIT said.