Bengaluru: 66 principals get notice – Free laptops

Bengaluru: The Department of Collegiate Education (DCE) has served show-cause notices to principals of more than 66 government first grade colleges for not uploading the list of beneficiary students, who have received free laptops in their first year of degree. The principals were expected to upload the information onto the student online portal within November 30.

The DCE Director, in a notice dated Dec. 6, has warned of disciplinary action against the principals under the Karnataka Civil Service Rules and charged them with dereliction of duty.

The DCE had issued a circular to all the principals to distribute laptops under the scheme after preparing a list of beneficiaries. With the list getting delayed, the distribution of laptops too will be put off by a few months, officials said.

DCE sources said around 1.09 lakh college students in the academic year 2019-20 will benefit from the scheme with a provision to extend the number of beneficiaries up to 1.5 lakh students this year.

The government has already procured the laptops through tenders. The government will distribute laptops to students belonging to economically weaker sections of all communities (both boys and girls) whose annual family income is below Rs 2.5 lakh.

Earlier this year, former chief minister H .D. Kumaraswamy, of the erstwhile JDS-Congress coalition, had allocated Rs 220 crore in his budget for distribution of free laptops. The distribution of laptops ran into a controversy later due to paucity of funds, delay in procurement of laptops after the tendering process and change of guard at the government.