50k smartphones ready for distribution to Class 11 and 12 girls: Punjab CM

Chandigarh: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday said that his government received the first batch of 50,000 smartphones that are to be distributed among girl students of Classes 11 and 12.

The CM said that priority will be given to students who do not have smartphones so that their online learning can be facilitated amid the covid crisis. The smartphones were received from a company which clarified that it had no connections to China,” he said during a video conference with Punjab Youth Congress president Birender Dhillon and his team.

The Congress, in its manifesto for the 2017 state polls, had promised smartphones with one year free data and calling for youth. Last year, it had decided to start with school students, but then kept missing deadline.

The CM asked chief principal secretary Suresh Kumar to designate an officer to provide regular inputs to the Youth Congress on government achievements and critical issues, such as the Bargari case investigation, to enable them to check spread of misinformation among people.

He directed deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police to interact regularly with the district presidents of the Punjab Youth Congress to resolve issues.

‘BARGARI CASE GETTING DELAYED DUE TO CBI’

Captain said that the Bargari case is getting delayed due to CBI’s refusal to hand over the investigation and return the case file. He said that false propaganda is being spread by the Opposition and it needs to be countered effective.

The CM said the state government had fulfilled 435 of 562 promises listed in the 2017 poll manifesto, and is on track to implement the rest in the current term.

On complaints of rampant corruption at lower levels, he assured immediate probe into the matter by the vigilance bureau.

He added that student elections at public universities will be held as soon as the Covid situation improves, and in the second phase, the private institutions are to follow the suit.