Bengaluru: The government of Karnataka will distribute free laptops to first-year degree college students for this academic year in all aided and government first grade colleges across the State.
The Department of Collegiate Education (DCE) has issued a circular to distribute laptops under the ‘free laptop distribution scheme’ to all the college principals after preparing a list of beneficiaries.
The DCE has directed the college principals to constitute a committee to oversee the laptop distribution headed by himself and comprising computer science lecturers / IT coordinators, three professors recommended by the principal, senior office staff and two student representatives at the college-level to prepare the list.
The government will distribute free laptops to students (both boys and girls) of economically weaker sections of all communities whose annual family income falls below `2.5 lakh.
The committee will verify the records of first year degree students based on the information provided to the colleges at the time of admission. It will prepare a list of beneficiaries after verifying their family income and other admission records by the end of this month.
Principals have been directed to upload the beneficiaries list in the Student Online Admission Portal. Officials said laptops will be given to students whose names are found in the student online portal.
Around 1.09 lakh college students will benefit from the scheme with a provision to extend the number of beneficiaries up to 1.5 lakh students for this year. The government has procured the laptops through a tendering process.
Earlier this year, former chief minister H .D. Kumaraswamy, of the erstwhile JDS-Congress coalition, had allocated `220 crore in his budget for distribution of free laptops to college students. The distribution of laptops ran into controversy later due to paucity of funds, delay in procurement of laptops after the tendering process and change of guard at the government.
“Our college has already uploaded the details of students who could avail themselves of free laptop under the scheme to Student Online Portal. Laptop kits will be handed over to students once the government releases the laptops to colleges,” said Dr K Govindraj, Incharge - Principal of Government of First Grade College, Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar district.
