PIL in HC seeks free laptop, phones to poor kids for online classes during COVID-19 lockdown

The Delhi High Court Friday asked the Centre and the AAP government to respond to a PIL seeking directions to them to provide free laptops, tablets or mobile phones to poor kids so that they can access classes online during the COVID-19 lockdown.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sanjeev Narula issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government, the municipal corporations and 10 private unaided schools here seeking their stand on the plea by an NGO, Justice for All, by June 10 -- the next date of hearing.

In its plea filed through advocate Khagesh Jha, the NGO has contended that the private unaided schools' decision to conduct classes via video conferencing would affect over 50,000 students belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) and cannot afford laptops, phones and high-speed internet service to attend the classes.