Punjab Congress Chief Captain Amarinder Singh announced Captain Smart Connect scheme in the state. 50 lakh 4G enabled smartphones to distribute away for free under this scheme. Punjab youth of age 18-35 with 10th class qualification and annual income less than 6 lakh are eligible for the scheme. Shiromani Akali Dal promised free laptops and data cards for Punjab youth in its poll manifesto earlier, five years ago.
Amarinder Singh made this announcement during the launch of ‘Captain Smart Connect’ scheme. He also promised the registered youth would get the smartphones within 100 days of the Congress government formation day.
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The scheme guarantees distribution of 50 lakh smartphones overall in a span of five years. Thousands of youth registered within few minutes on captainsmartconnect.com website which was set up exclusively for this purpose.
The last date for registering on the website under the scheme is November 30, 2016. Facebook profile of Amarinder’s living with the event and recorded 1,200 likes with 8,200 views in the first one hour of the launch
Amarinder went live with the Facebook profile in the event and recorded 8,200 views, and 1,200 likes in the first one hour of the launch. The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president declared the scheme would cost about Rs 300-400 crore per year after the initial investment in the first year.
“The scheme will cost about Rs 300-Rs 400 crores a year after the initial investment in the first year, and the allocation will made in the state budget itself to fund the scheme as part of the government’s youth welfare program,” said Amarinder.
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Funding for these smartphones will be made from the state budget under youth welfare program of his government. Amarinder explained the rationale behind the scheme and told that one-third of Punjab’s population is youth, and this section remains backward.
Large-scale unemployment is forcing the 18-35 years age group to drugs and other problems. He also said that government connecting with them is important. The initiative would enable him to build the bridges with the youth. People registered on the website will get receipts with unique codes featuring them to receive the 4G enabled smartphone.
