Free smartphones, tablets for UP students from next week. Read more

Around 2.5 lakh tablets and 5 lakh smartphones will be distributed in the first lot, the government said in a statement.

A dedicated portal DG Shakti has been created for this, and it will be launched soon by the chief minister, it said, adding trough this portal, distribution of smartphones and tablets and content will be given to the students.

Apart from this, information about smartphones and tablets will be given to the students from time to time on their mobile numbers and email IDs.

The entire system, from registration to delivery of smartphone and tablet is free, it said.

The data of the students is being given to the university by the respective colleges and the data feeding of the students is being done at university level itself. Till Monday, data of about 27 lakh students was uploaded on the portal. The process of data feeding of the rest of the students is also being expedited, said the statement.

A tender to the tune of ₹4,700 crore has been floated by the government on the GeM portal for the purchase of smartphones and tablets, the statement said.

Financial bids of eligible firms will be opened after technical scrutiny. It is expected that the work order will be issued by the first week of December, the statement said.

On October 23, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had said that his government will begin the distribution of tablets and smartphones among the youth by November-end.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.