The Himachal Pradesh government will give free laptops to 19,487 students with achievements in class X and XII tomorrow.
The Himachal Pradesh government will give free laptops to 19,847 students with achievements in class X, XII and graduates of class 2018-19 and 2019-20 in the program “Srinivasa Ramanujan Student Digital Yojana” on 8th May. 6. Free laptops will be distributed at 55 centers across the state. Total cost of free laptop is estimated around Rs. 83 crores, Education Minister Manish Garg said. The delivery of the laptop was expected to be done earlier, however, it was delayed because of the budget. Before that, the budget Rs. 50 crore has been adopted for this scheme- Rs. 25 crore for each of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 courses. It has been boosted by an additional Rs. 25 crores as the cost of laptops has increased in the last two years.
Sources said the companies have discounted Rs. 5,000 per laptop.
In addition, the state government will also donate smartphones to about 10,000 students whose achievements from 2020-21 are in the process of bidding, a source in the education ministry shared.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh is not the only state giving free laptops to meritorious students, but the Odisha government is also giving away free laptops under the Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran Yojana program. Eligible students who have not previously applied for this program can do so before June 20. The Odisha Department of Higher Education has extended the deadline for submitting online applications to June 20, 2022. The higher education division tweeted that Merit Plus 2 students can now apply for direct benefit transfer (DBT) to laptops under the program through June 20.
The online application for Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran Yojana was opened on March 29, 2022. And is expected to close on May 10. Only 15,000 eligible students, whose name is on the school list, are expected to close on May 10. Students with achievements, can register for the program to receive. Transfer of direct interest of 30,000.
The amount will be paid through Aadhaar Enabled Payment System.
