Pb govt postpones distribution of free smartphones to March end

The Congress-led Punjab government on Sunday said it will distribute free smartphones to the youth in the state, one of its key poll promises, before March 31.

The Amarinder Singh government had last month announced that it will start distributing the phones from the Republic Day.

"I think that is all in the pipeline. Some testing was left. That is why it cannot be launched otherwise we would have rolled them out on January 26," Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Sunday.

"I hope they will be launched before March 31," Singla told reporters in Patiala when he was asked about the government's announcement of giving smartphones on the Republic Day.

The minister was in Patiala to unfurl the national flag on the occasion of the 71st Republic Day.

On December 2, the chief minister had tweeted, "This 26th Jan, when we celebrate the Republic Day, we will start the 1st Phase of the smartphone distribution. 1st batch of 1.6 lakh smartphones will be given to girl students of Class 11 & 12. Hoping that these phones will help them in their studies & make them more tech-savvy".

He had said that mobile phones would be distributed among Class 11 and 12 girl students of government schools in the state.

Before coming to power, the Congress had announced in its poll manifesto that in order to "encourage and incentivise" youth to use digital technology in day-to-day lives, it would distribute free smartphones.

The opposition has been vociferously criticising the Congress government for not honouring its major polls promises, including distribution of free smartphones.

The state government had announced its 'Mobile Phones to the Youth' scheme, in line with its poll promise, in its budget for the financial year 2017-18.