More than 1,82,000 laptops under PM’s Youth Laptop Scheme distributed so far

ISLAMABAD, Jan 8 (APP): The government has so far distributed
more than 1,82,000 laptops under Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop
Scheme among students enrolled in HEC-recognized public sector
universities and colleges across the country.
The basic aim of the scheme is to promote the use of laptop and
ICT for higher education and research by bridging the digital
divide.
In a phased programme (2013-18), the government has planned to
distribute 1,00,000 laptops and internet dongle devices each year
among MS/MPhil, PhD, Masters, and Bachelors students. Total budget
allocation for the five year programme stands at little more over
Rs. 25 billion.
The first phase has been completed and in second phase around
82,000 laptops have been distributed among the eligible students.
The distribution process is expected to be completed by January this
year as around 2500 laptops are being distributed amongst eligible
students on daily basis, Chairperson Prime Minister’s Youth
Programme, Leila Khan said.
In an exclusive interview with APP, she shared statistics of
laptop scheme and said the process of delivery of laptops to
universities under Phase-III of the programme has also been
initiated and more than 10,000 laptops have been delivered. The
third phase is expected to be completed by June this year, taking
the total distribution of laptops to 0.3 million.
Leila Khan said the deadline for receiving applications
under third phase has been extended up to 9th January 2017 to
facilitate maximum number of eligible students all over the country.
The Chairperson said more than 167,513 applications have been
received so far under the third phase of the scheme. Moreover, she
said the procurement of laptops and dongle devices for fourth phase
has also been initiated to complete the process well in time.
Replying to a question, Leila Khan said there is no
possibility of one student receiving more than one laptop under the
scheme as there exists a Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC)-
based data bank of all laptop recipients.
She said in order to promote Information Technology
(IT) manufacturing industry and contribute significantly in
country’s economy, first time in country’s history, Haier
Pakistan, Vendor of the scheme, has established a state-of-the-art
Laptop Assembly Plant in Lahore.
It merits mention here that the federal government is
running six schemes under Prime Minister’s Youth Programme for
socio-economic development of people, especially the youth. These
schemes include Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loans Scheme, Prime
Minister’s Interest Free Loan Scheme, Prime Minister’s Youth Skill
Development Programme, Prime Minister’s Youth Laptop Scheme, Prime
Minister’s Fee Reimbursement Scheme, and Prime Minister’s Youth
Training Scheme.
Leila Khan said Youth are benefitting substantially from all
above-mentioned six schemes.