Post News Network
Bhubaneswar: Following a direction from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the higher education department Monday asked Orissa Computer Application Centre (OCAC) to integrate Oriya Lipi software in the laptops being given to students under the free laptop distribution scheme.
“Install Oriya Lipi software in 15,000 laptops for Plus II students of the 2015 passing-out batch to create their interest in Oriya language. Instruct the agency concerned to do needful by preloading the required software in each of the laptops before they are delivered at the nodal centres for distribution,” wrote higher education secretary GVV Sarma to chief executive of OCAC, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Monday.
While reviewing the progress of free laptop distribution recently, the CM had directed the officials to procure laptops through OCAC and start distributing them to meritorious Plus II students of the 2015 passing-out batch from January 2016.
So far, the state government has distributed 14,750 free laptops to the 2013-14 batch of Plus II students and the rest would be distributed soon, said sources. The government has decided to distribute laptops to around 15,000 students of the 2015 passing-out batch with an estimated cost of Rs 30 crore.