The Punjab government on Wednesday launched a ‘Smart Connect Scheme’, pegged at ₹92 crore, to distribute smartphones to students of Class XII in government schools across the State.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh launched the scheme by handing over smartphones to six Class XII students in a symbolic gesture. Simultaneous distribution of phones was done at 26 places by various Ministers and MLAs.
Captain Singh said that when the Congress listed ‘smartphones’ as a poll promise (2017 Assembly elections), it was to provide global connectivity and empower the poor youth who could not afford them but in the present pandemic situation, these phones had assumed a bigger importance as they had become a necessity for education.
