Led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the Punjab government has today initiated historic work of providing free of cost smart phones to the 1.74 lakhs students of government schools under Punjab Smart Connect Scheme on pious occasion of Janmashtami and International Youth Day.The Minister for Transport and Water Supply and Sanitation Mrs Razia Sultana said while starting distribution of smart phones to the class +2 students of Barnala at District Administrative Complex. Providing a digital platform to the students of government schools the scheme will enable better connectivity at a cost of Rs 92 cr under this scheme.Earlier the Minister Mrs Razia Sultana, other dignitaries and district administration officials attended live video conferencing beamed at the state level wherein the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh distributed phones at Chandigarh, while other cabinet ministers distributed the phones at their designated districts.She added that 1, 74, 015 students of class +2 are being distributed these smart phones under first phase. If the number of students admitted to class +2 increases, they too would be provided the phones. The entire distribution will be culminated by Nov 2020.
She added that in district Barnala 3792 students are being given these phones to enable them continue their studies during closure of schools to mitigate corona virus infection. Today 21 students were given these phones.Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee vice president and former MLA Mr Kewal Singh Dhillon said that despite the corona pandemic, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has fulfilled his promise made to the people of state. He added that other demands of people too would be met with soon.Deputy Commissioner Mr Tej Pratap Singh Phoolka, SSP Mr Sandeep Goyal, ADC (D) Mr Aaditya Dachalwal, Assistant Commissioner Mr Ashok Kumar, former MLA Bibi HarchandKaur, Chairman Improvement Trust Mr Makhan Sharma, DEO (Secondary) Mr Sarabjit Singh Tur, Deputy DEO Mrs Harkjanwaljit Kaur, Rakesh Kumar, Arun Garg, Manpal, Simardeep Singh, Binder Singh Khuddi Kalan and others were also present.