Bihar ministers to go hi-tech; to get laptops

Bihar ministers are all set for an image makeover. In the days to come, they would look more like corporate honchos, carrying laptops in their hands. Yes, laptops for ministers in the state are just a few weeks away.

By the end of February, all the 27 ministers of the state would be owners of a Dell laptop to help assist them in their day-to-day working. The Science and Technology Department has sanctioned more than Rs 1.91 lakh to Beltron, for the purchase of computers. Each Dell company laptop costs Rs 71,000. Laptops of the same make had also been supplied to each of the departmental secretaries.

"The ministers will be getting the laptop within this financial year itself. Beltron has already floated a tender in this regard," said Science and Technology Minister Anil Kumar.

He, however, clarified that the department would not provide any assistant to the ministers to operate it. "After all it is for their personal use and at the most we can request Beltron and National Informatics Centre (NIC) experts to provide tips to use it. However, if they want, they can keep a person to operate it through their respective departments," said Kumar.

Going by the fact that most of the state's legislators are computer illiterate, the previous government had made provisions to employ an assistant on a monthly salary of Rs 5,000 to work the laptops.

The Beltron officials said that the government wants to equip its ministers with the computers under the national e-governance plan of the Central Government.
The department has also approved the purchase of over 250 servers, hundreds of desktop computers and 40 projectors to kick-start the state's non-existent I&T infrastructure. In fact, the demand for laptops had come from the legislators themselves. The matter was raised during the winter session of the Assembly by legislators.

Email Vijay Swaroop: vswaroop@hindustantimes.com