Undergraduates in MP to get Rs 2500 smartphones from next month

Madhya Pradesh has turned third time lucky by managing to find a company to supply smartphones costing Rs 2,500 each -- after failing twice to finish tender process to distribute the devices among undergraduate students.

Published on: Mar 31, 2016, 16:08:27 IST

Hindustan Times | By Shruti Tomar, Bhopal

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Madhya Pradesh has turned third time lucky by managing to find a company to supply smartphones costing Rs 2,500 each -- after failing twice to finish tender process to distribute the devices among undergraduate students.

According to department sources, 3.75 lakh smart phones will be distributed to regular students of academic year 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 from April this year.

Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (MPSEDC) Limited has completed the bidding process.

Department of higher education commissioner Umakant Umrapo said, “All procedures have been completed. Phones will be distributed soon.”

Since Bhartiya Janta Party’s (BJP) came to power in 2013, the government has been trying to keep a promise made during state assembly elections in the year that they will provide smartphones to promote e-learning.

Bidding started in September 2014 but remained incomplete in the absence of bidders. During the second time, the process of inviting tenders completed but neither the company winning the bid was well established nor did it have service centres at all district headquarters. The government also tried to provide money to students but chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stuck to distributing the phones.

Later, at a meeting of Higher Education Department in January 2016, the government set an April, 2016 deadline to complete distribution of phones, to be given to students with 75% attendance in class.

Higher education minister Uma Shankar Gupta said, “We are happy that the process is on the verge of completion. The smart phones will be distributed to students at a function in April.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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