Odisha to distribute over 15,000 laptops to students

Scheme for meritorious students who passed +2 exams to cost state Rs 30 crore

Delivering on one of its key poll promises, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha is set to distribute more than 15,000 free laptops among students. This is the second year in a row that the government is distributing laptops.

The doling out of laptops to meritorious students, who pass Class XII examinations, is estimated to cost Rs 30 crore to the state exchequer. The scheme has been launched under a special programme, Biju Yuva Shashaktikaran Yojana, an initiative under the Odisha Youth Policy of 2013.

The promise worked wonders for the BJD. It won the Assembly elections and did well in the Lok Sabha polls in 2014. Earlier, the Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan governments had distributed free laptops to students.

For 2014-15, leading computer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard (HP) has bagged a Rs 30-crore contract from the Odisha government for the supply of 15,203 laptops. The government had given an equal amount to Acer, which bagged the order for 2013-14 for supplying 15,000 laptops at a unit cost of Rs 20,343. For the current year, laptops will be procured for Rs 19,899 a unit.

Two bids were received in response to a request for proposal (RFP) floated by the state information technology (IT)  department. Acer, which was the only competitor to HP, had quoted more than Rs 23,000 for a unit. “Both the manufacturers qualified in the technical bid but with the opening of financial bid, HP has emerged as the L1 bidder,” said an official.

After the government approval, the work order for supply of laptops will be issued, the official added. “The laptops will be distributed in the next two months,” said an official of higher education department.

LAPTOP SOPS
A snapshot of some free laptop schemes announced by state governments

ODISHA

• Scheme, in its second year, launched under Biju Yuva Shashaktikaran Yojana
• Had helped BJD in Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2014

UTTAR PRADESH

• Akhilesh Yadav government selected HP after a global tender
• Plan was to give 1.5 mn laptops to students passing the 2011-12 academic session
• Budgetary provision of Rs 2,800 crore made
• In 2015-15, government earmarked Rs 100 crore for project
• Free tablet scheme for Class X students never took off

TAMIL NADU

• AIADMK had promised free laptops for students, fans, mixies and grinders for households in the 2011 election manifesto
• 2.16 million students have benefited
• State allocated Rs 1,100 crore in 2015-2016

A technical committee was formed for evaluation of the technical specifications of the laptops under the chairmanship of the director, IIIT (International Institute of Information Technology). The panel included senior officials of National Informatics Centre, Software Technological Parks of India and Odisha Computer Application Centre. Similarly, the state-level procurement committee was headed by the special secretary of the IT department with representatives from the law, finance and higher education departments.

One of the eligibility criteria for the bidder was that the original equipment manufacturer concerned must have an annual average turnover of at least Rs 300 crore from hardware supply and maintenance services in the previous three financial years. Besides, the bidder needed to have adequate presence in Odisha with experienced manpower for providing service in all 30 districts.

In UP, soon after coming to power in March 2012, the Akhilesh Yadav government had floated a global tender and selected HP to supply about 1.5 million laptops for distribution to students passing during the 2011-12 academic session. The government had also made a budgetary provision of Rs 2,800 crore for the purpose.

In Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK had promised free laptops for students and fans, mixies and grinders for households in its 2011 election manifesto. So far, 2.16 million students have benefited from this scheme. The state has allocated Rs 1,100 crore in 2015-16 for this scheme.