1.35 crore women to get smartphones by Rajasthan govt

Jaipur, Aug 19: Three major telecom companies of the country have shown interest in the Chief Minister Digital Seva Yojana of the Rajasthan government under which 1.35 crore women in the state are to be given smartphones, officials said Friday. A senior official said a high-level committee will take a decision on the bidders this month after evaluation.

The government wants to complete this process at the earliest so that the scheme can be implemented before the assembly elections next year.

The total cost of the project is Rs 12,000 crore. The technical bids for the government project were opened here on Wednesday.

''Technical bids were opened on Wednesday. Vodafone, a private company that offered the tender, did not appear,'' Project in-charge Chhatrapal Singh told PTI. He said that now a high level committee will assess the tenders and decide further.

Officials are hopeful that the process will be sorted out at the earliest and the first batch of the smartphones may be received by the government before the festive season starts. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had announced Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana in this year's budget.

Under the scheme, women heads of 1.35 crore families enrolled in the Chiranjeevi Health Insurance Scheme are to be given smartphones with internet connectivity for three years.

Rajcomp, a state-owned company, is responsible for project implementation.

Officials said that the project will cost about Rs 12,000 crore including the cost of mobile phones, three years of internet, and other services. An official said that the given mobile will support two-SIM feature and one SIM will already come activated in its 'primary slot', which cannot be changed.

Rajasthan is due for assembly elections in December next year.