Capt govt hands out free smartphones to students
CHANDIGARH: The Capt Amarinder Singh government rolled out the much-awaited smartphone scheme in the state on Wednesday by distributing free mobile handsets to Class 12 students of government schools.
The ₹92 crore ‘Punjab Smart Connect Scheme’ saw light of the day more than three years after the Congress came to power in the state.
The CM personally handed over handsets to six students. At 26 different places, the ministers and MLAS distributed 20 smartphones each to mark the launch of the scheme, which marked the fulfilment of another major poll promise of the Congress government in the state.
The scheme, for which ₹100 crore was allocated in the state budget for 2017-18, will benefit 1,74,015 Class 12 students of government schools in the first phase, to be completed by November 2020.
Of these, 87,395 are boys and 86,620 girls, with majority in the OBC and SC/ST categories – thus bridging a major divide that was obstructing these students from affordable access to online/digital education. The bulk of the students – 111857, are from rural areas, and the remaining in urban government schools.
Amarinder, who launched the scheme through video conferencing at the secretariat , said people believe in the promises listed in the election manifesto and it was, thus, his duty to ensure the implementation of each one of them.
When the Congress listed smartphones as a poll promise, it was to provide global connectivity and empower the poor youth who could not afford them, said Amarinder, adding that in the present pandemic situation, these phones had assumed a bigger importance as they had become a necessity for education continuity.