Chhattisgarh government to distribute free smartphones to over 50L people
What's the story
The BJP government in poll-bound Chhattisgarh will start distributing smartphones to over 50 lakh people for free from May under Sanchar Kranti Yojana (SKY), months ahead of the assembly polls.
Women heads of households will be the priority recipients of smartphones, an official said.
30L smartphones would be distributed in the first phase while remaining will be allotted in the second phase.
Here's more.
Information
CHiPS is making preparations for distribution of phones
The Chhattisgarh Infotech Promotion Society (CHiPS) has started preparations for the distribution of phones, as per the announcement made by the Chief Minister Raman Singh last year to reduce the digital divide, said the official from state Publicity department.
The scheme
40L phones will be given to women heads of household
Under the scheme, 40L phones will be given to women heads of households in villages having a population of more than 1,000 while 5L phones will be given to women heads belonging to poor families living in urban areas.
Besides, 5L phones will be given to college students.
The phones with high quality are being procured on the directions of the Chief Minister.
Mobile connectivity
Only 29% of total rural area has mobile connectivity
Chhattisgarh presently has the mobile phone connectivity in around 29% of the total rural area.
The SKY scheme will ensure better phone connectivity in 13,900 villages of the state, the official said.
It will also facilitate reach of citizen-centric services to the people in the remote areas through 11,000 common service centers (CSCs) of CHiPS.
Smartphones will apprise government's welfare schemes to people.