Punjab Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Friday, launched the second phase of “Punjab Smart Connect Scheme” in district Ludhiana by handing over smartphones Class XII students of various Government Schools in the district.The Minister distributed the smartphones to students simultaneously via video conference with the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who launched the scheme in SAS Nagar. During the launching, MLA East Sanjay Talwar, Zila Parishad Chairman Yadwinder Singh Jandiali, Punjab Medium Industry Development Board Chairman Amarjit Singh Tikka, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma, Ludhiana Improvement Trust Chairman Raman Balasubramaniam, Senior Congress Leader Ashwani Sharma, Punjab Youth Development Board Chairperson Sukhwinder Singh Bindra, Councillor Mamta Ashu among other prominent persons were present.While addressing the gathering, Cabinet Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu said that 11660 students of class XII studying in Government Senior Secondary Schools of district Ludhiana would be benefited under this scheme in the second phase.He said that the Smart Phones would provide global connectivity and empower the poor youth who could not afford them.
He said that in the present pandemic situation, these phones had assumed a bigger importance as they had become a necessity for education continuity. It was the money of the people of Punjab which the Punjab government was spending on advancement of the youth, he said.Bharat Bhushan Ashu said that he wanted Punjab’s students to be abreast with the latest technology which they can use effectively for their education, which leverages technology in a big way today. Gone are the days of chalks and boards, he said, adding that the Government schools, which had seen a major transformation over the past couple of years, needed to be supported through technological initiatives by the state government.Meanwhile, the Lava company smartphones equipped with latest specifications including 2GB RAM with 1.5 GHz processor, 5.45 inches display size, 3000 mAh battery, eight-megapixel rear and five-megapixel front cameras with capacitive touch screen beside the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, headphone jack, USB enabled OS-Android 9.0 phone will be compiled with all types of networks such as 2G, 3G,4G/LTE, VoLTE having ROM (Memory) – 16 GB, which is expandable to 128 GB. Students expressed gratitude to the Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh for the smartphones citing that they were unable to afford smartphones due to financial constraints at home but this initiative of the government has given a new impetus to their desire to get an education.