Gujarat: Three lakh students to get tablet PCs for Rs 1000 each

Three lakh first-year college students in Gujarat will get tablet computers worth Rs 11,000 for a token sum of Rs 1,000, said Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Saturday. It is the second year that the students in the state are getting such tablets, christened "Namo E-Tab", with Rupani stating that his government wanted to make this distribution an annual event.

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Rupani said Rs 30 crore that will be collected from students, in the form of a token fee of Rs 1,000, will be used to provide internet and Wi-Fi connectivity to college campuses and libraries to benefit students.

Rupani was speaking Saturday after an event to distribute tablets to Gujarat University and Gujarat Technological University students.

"Three lakh first-year college students will get tablets for a token sum of Rs 1,000. The distribution programme is being held in college campuses across the state. The objective is that in this age of technology, students will be able to enhance their knowledge and connect to the world using tablets with internet connectivity," Rupani said.

The state government has made a provision of Rs 300 crore to provide tablets to students against a sum of Rs 250 crore earmarked for the purpose last year.

Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical Education, informed that the tablets would have 450 lecture videos in-built into them, 46 course material videos and 110 virtual learning course material as per the syllabus.

Sharma said the tablets offered this year are of better quality with enhanced features and specifications than the ones provided last year.

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This year, the tablets have 4G technology as against 3G offered last year, and a 2GB RAM as against 1GB RAM last year, Sharma said.

They will also have 16 GB memory as against 8 GB memory in the ones provided to students last year, the official added.

The tablets come with dual SIM and have 5 MP back and 2 MP front cameras, Sharma further said.