Even as the fate of Aakash tablet project hangs in the balance, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has floated another proposal for giving tablet devices to higher secondary students in government schools across the country at a cost of Rs 5,000 crore.

The scheme will benefit some 90 lakh students who will also get for two years free 500 MB data usage, 75 SMS and 75 minutes of talk-time every month. The project will be implemented by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in four phases spread over three years.

Justifying the project, the Telecom Department said, “Tablet devices are increasingly becoming powerful and compact tools for computation and accessing multi-media content and services available on the Internet. They can become an asset to students by providing access to education related content.”

“However, the cost of the tablet and data connection may not be affordable to students studying in government schools. Hence, government support would be necessary. The scheme will open up new opportunities for education and knowledge acquisition,” it added in a note to the Telecom Commission. The SIM card will be locked down to the device so that students will not be able to use the tablet on any other operator’s network or sell it. Each tablet is estimated to cost around Rs 4,500. Sixty per cent of the project cost will be financed by the Universal Services Obligation Fund, while the balance will come from the Government.

This comes even as the Aakash project undertaken by the Ministry of Human Resources Development has drawn flak from various agencies, including the Comptroller and Auditor General, for poor implementation and faulty product. The current HRD Minister, M.M. Pallam Raju, is not in favour of continuing the Aakash project and therefore Sibal could be trying to revive his brain child through DoT.

> thomas.thomas@thehindu.co.in

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