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AP plans subsidised Aakash for students
Suresh Dharur/TNS

Hyderabad, January 28
As a part of the initiative to promote e-learning, the Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to provide Aakash tablets to students at a subsidised price of Rs 1,500. The state government has sent a proposal to the Union Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry in this regard.

“Once we get the approval, we will implement the scheme. We are planning to procure 10,000 tablets. Initially, they will be made available to the students in the state universities, engineering and polytechnic colleges,” State Commissioner of Technical Education S Balasubramanyam said.

In the next phase, the scheme would be extended to the students of all private colleges in the state, the official said. The Union HRD Ministry is monitoring implementation of the Aakash project. The tablet has been designed especially for students with an aim to bridge the digital divide between the rich and the poor. Over the next five years, the Centre plans to provide the tablets to 20 crore students.