Rajasthan govt en-route to provide smartphones to 1.35 crore women
PremiumThe technical bids for the government project were opened on Wednesday, whose total cost is ₹12,000 crore.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led Rajasthan government has launched a scheme under which 1.35 crore women in the state are to be given smartphones. For the Chief Minister Digital Seva Yojana, three major telecom companies have shown interest, said officials on August 19.
A high-level committee will take a decision on the bidders this month after evaluation, said the official.
The state government seeks to complete the bidding process at the earliest so that the scheme can be implemented before the assembly elections next year.
Earlier, the technical bids for the government project were opened on Wednesday, whose total cost is ₹12,000 crore.
"Technical bids were opened on Wednesday. Vodafone, a private company that offered the tender, did not appear," Project in-charge Chhatrapal Singh said.
Officials seemed hopeful that the process will be sorted soon and the first batch of the smartphones may be received by the government before the festive season starts.
The Chief Minister Digital Seva Yojana was announced by Ashok Gehlot in this year's budget. Under the scheme, women heads of 1.35 crore families enrolled in the Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme are to be given smartphones with internet connectivity for three years.
A state-owned company Rajcomp is responsible for project implementation. The project includes the cost of mobile phones, three years of internet, and other services.
The given mobile will support two-SIM feature and one SIM will already come activated in its ‘primary slot’, which cannot be changed.
With PTI inputs.
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