No clarity yet on TN government’s free laptop scheme, 37 lakh students in waitlist
The brainchild project of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa has continuously been shelved and the situation is most likely to be the same for the upcoming academic year. The project is stalled for reasons best known to administrators, for the fourth consecutive academic year.
CHENNAI: With the annual budget season set to gain momentum next month, the Tamil Nadu government has not officially announced or committed to implementing the once-acclaimed free laptop scheme for students.
The brainchild project of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa has continuously been shelved and the situation is most likely to be the same for the upcoming academic year. The project is stalled for reasons best known to administrators, for the fourth consecutive academic year.
The Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu (ELCOT) is the nodal agency that purchases the laptops for the scheme. Its official website still maintains that “the Government of Tamil Nadu is implementing the free laptop distribution to the students studying in government and government-aided schools and colleges”.
During the AIADMK regime, free laptops were distributed to government school students studying in Class XII and candidates in the State-run colleges till March 2020.
“However, the procurement and distribution of laptops stalled due to the COVID-19 lockdown from March 2020,” a senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next.
Pointing out that the scheme has benefitted six to seven lakh students each year, he said, “The number of students on the waiting list to receive the laptops was around 30 lakhs last year. However, it may have reached around 37 lakhs now.”
AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami last Saturday highlighted that the project was implemented every year when his party was in power and the government had paid Rs 12,000 for each laptop.
Meanwhile, the official explained that buying each laptop for Rs 12,000 through global tender might have been possible for the government four or five years back.
He added, “The prices of chips, memory cards, and other items for laptops have now doubled in the international market.” He said the state government is trying its level best to implement the scheme.
However, the official refused to comment on the state government’s earlier proposal to distribute tabs instead of laptops to the students free of cost.
PB Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary of State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN) said that the state government should take a stand on the free laptop scheme. “If it is going to be continued, the funds should be allocated in the upcoming budget session itself,” he said.