Nearly 36,000 students belonging to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities will have to wait longer to get their laptops. The laptops, that were supposed to be given to them in the last academic year, were supposed to be distributed to students during a programme in Davangere.
The programme has now been put off after opposition from students and teachers as they said that students could not travel to Davangere as they had their exams scheduled later this month. Sources in Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi’s office confirmed the event has been put off and said a new date was yet to be finalised.
With the Assembly elections scheduled in April-May next year, the State government had made all efforts to woo the first-time voters. H. Prakash, president, Karnataka Government College Teachers’ Association, said students from different parts of the State refused to travel to Davangere. “Students are busy preparing for their exams and do not want to travel now. It is best to distribute all the laptops in the respective colleges. The programme should be cancelled,” he said. He said it was difficult for colleges to pay for the students’ travel expenditure.