There would be no supply of free laptops to meritorious Plus II students under the Biju Sashaktikaran Yojana as the State Government has decided to send money directly to accounts of the students instead of laptops from this year.
As per a decision by the Higher Education Department, the students having cleared the CHSE Plus II Examination 2020 would receive Rs 30,000 each at their bank accounts towards purchasing of laptops.
The Government had been distributing free laptops to 15,000 meritorious Plus II students since 2013.
A source in the Department said that many laptops were found unused by the students at colleges for months. In view of this, the authorities decided to provide money to the student beneficiaries instead of laptops.
A software in this regard is being jointly developed by the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) and the Student Academic Management System (SAMS) to prepare a detailed list of bank accounts of 15,000 students. Following completion of the software, a notification in this regard would be published.
Notably, the Government had started distributing free laptops with an aim at inspiring and upgrading the skill of the young students as part of its youth policy.
Every year, the top 15,000 students from different streams were selected on a merit basis at the district level and were being provided the free laptops.