Planning Commission approves Rs 2,700 crore for laptops in Uttar Pradesh

NEW DELHI: Planning Commission, which had pulled up states like Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Rajasthan for doling out freebies like laptops and mobiles, has approved over Rs 2,700 crore on Thursday for distribution of laptops and tablets in Uttar Pradesh in 2013-14.

Last year, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party government had announced a budget of Rs 2,721.24 crore for distributing tablets and laptops to all meritorious students of classes X and XII. Of this, Rs 400 crore was earmarked for tablets and the remaining was to be spent on laptops.

This year, however, the sanction on tablets has come down to Rs 300 crore while that on laptops have gone up marginally. This allocation is part of the Rs 69,200 crore approved by the Planning Commission as annual plan for the state for 2013-14.

The annual plan includes central assistance of about Rs 11,225 crore, which is in addition to about Rs 18,000 crore that is likely to flow to the state through various centrally sponsored scheme, taking up the total central funding to Rs 30,000 crore during the current year.

The Planning Commission has also given a positive assurance to the state’s proposal for setting up a second nuclear plant in Uttar Pradesh, either in Ghaghara or Narora.