State to give Rs 10K each to 9.5L students to buy tabs
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that 9.5 lakh students of Class XII in state schools and madrasas across Bengal will be getting Rs 10,000 each credited to their respective bank accounts for purchasing tabs or smartphones for attending virtual classes.
Banerjee had recently announced that the state government will hand over tabs to all Class XII students free of cost to ensure that they do not face any difficulty in attending online classes under the new COVID-19 normal when all schools are closed.
"We had initiated the tendering process for the procurement of tabs. But only 1 to 1.5 lakh tabs can be made available from the market against our requirement of 9.5 lakh. The Union government is against Chinese stuff and we have also agreed to the same. We have formed a committee of officials led by our Chief Secretary and have decided to transfer Rs 10,000 each to the bank accounts of the 9.5 lakh students of 14,000 higher secondary schools and madrasas in the state. They can use the money for purchasing tabs or smartphones with a large screen and good display as per their choice," Banerjee said, adding that the amount will be transferred to the bank accounts of these students in three weeks.
The Chief Minister further announced a job for one of the family members of the 345 odd civic volunteers who have died in the line of their duty. "We have similar provisions of a job for a family member of police official or a Covid warrior who has died. Now, the family members of civic volunteers will also get jobs," she added.
The state government has also effected the transfer of 35,000 cops who have applied for returning to their respective home districts after having worked for 15 years. Nearly 50,000 policemen had applied for such a transfer.
Banerjee said in case of primary teachers, 10,163 have applied and 6,466 of them have already been transferred to their respective home districts. In the secondary level, among 5,502 teachers who had applied for such a transfer, 3,852 have been placed in their home districts.
"The mutual transfer of teachers has had a 98 percent success rate with 4,490 out of 4,594 who had applied already getting placed in the districts of their choice," said Banerjee.
