Haryana Government has decided to give free laptops to first 500 meritorious students, including both boys and girls, belonging to different categories who would secure a minimum of 95 per cent marks in annual Board examination of class X in 2016-17.
Announcing this, Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu on Monday said that the laptops would be provided under State Merit Scholarship scheme, under which a scholarship of Rs 150 per student for 12 months used to be given.
Now, the proposal to give laptops instead has been approved by Chief Minister Manohar lal.
The State Government would bear an additional expenditure of about Rs 2.50 crore on account of this facility, said the Minister.
He said that while one hundred laptops would be provided to top 100 students in the merit list of the Board irrespective of their caste, sex or economic status, an equal number of laptops would be given to top girl students belonging to general category.
Such laptops would also be provided to top one hundred boys and an equal number of top girls belonging to Scheduled Castes, and the remaining one hundred laptops to students belonging to Below Poverty line families, in the merit list of the Board, added the Minister.