Chennai:

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa presented laptops, computer guides and printers to the Village Administrative Officers in the State to enable them to function efficiently and to take the welfare schemes of the government forward quickly.

As many as 7,787 VAOs will be benefitted by this initiative. Seven of the 3,318 VAOs recruited through the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission received the equipment from the CM in person at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

The initiative will cost the State Exchequer `22.49 crore. The CM made announcement in this regard on November 14, 2011 during the conference of District Collectors.

UP Takes Cue from Jaya’s Laptop Scheme

Tamil Nadu’s maiden free laptop scheme for students has had a far-flung impact, if one goes by the assertion of a State Minister. T K M Chinnayya, minister for animal husbandry said, on Thursday , that the UP Government has taken a cue from the free laptop scheme for every student in State-run schools and colleges under implementation in Tamil Nadu.

Addressing the gathering on the occasion of distribution of free laptops for students of Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) at Chromepet, he said, despite there being a few problems during procurement of laptops due to a tsunami in Japan, the scheme was successfully launched before March 31. Earlier, Dr P Mannar Jawahar, vice chancellor of Anna University, said over 600 students of the campus were expected to be benefited by the scheme.

source: http://www.ibnlive.in.com / South> TamilNadu / The New Indian Express, Express News Service / March 30th, 2012