Lok Sabha Question No. 2549 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-08-05
Subject: Aakash Tablet
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: A.T. (NANA) PATIL

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2549

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2015

**Aakash Tablet**

† 2549.     SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

1. whether her Ministry has made any announcement for providing Aakash Tablet 	to students at cheaper price;

1. if so, the details of tablets distributed under the said scheme, State-wise;

1. whether the Government is not able to provide enough tablets to meet the 	increasing demand of the same; and

(d)	if so, the details thereof and the steps taken/being taken by the Government to meet the shortage of the said Tablet?

**ANSWER**

**MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT**

**(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)**

1. & (b) Under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), a project to procure and distribute Low Cost Access Devices (LCAD) for optimization of hardware and software and testing of the said LCAD i.e. Aakash Tablet was sanctioned to IIT Rajasthan.  IIT Rajasthan was to procure 1.00 Lakh such devices.  When the LCAD (Aakash Tablet) started getting delivered, some commercial and technical disputes arose between IIT Rajasthan (the purchaser) and Datawind (the supplier). IIT Rajasthan wrote to NMEICT and expressed its inability to continue with the project citing “intractable problems”, and requested NMEICT to pass on the project to any other interested institution. The details of the disputes referred above and ‘intractable problems’ are being obtained from IIT Rajasthan. At this time, IIT Bombay came forward to support. The Project Approval Board of the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT) in it’s 23 rd meeting held on 28 th February 2012 decided to shift the project, on an as-is where-is basis to IIT Bombay under the leadership of 
Prof. D. B. Phatak, IIT Bombay had procured 1.00 Lakh such devices, which were distributed for using and testing by the students and the teachers.  The State-wise list of distribution is Annexed.

3. & (d) Since, the procurement of Aakash Tablet was for the purpose of optimization of hardware and software testing, therefore, (c) & (d) do not arise.

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***ANNEXURE***

**Annexure referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2549 for reply 
on 05.08.2015 regarding ‘Aakash Tablet’.**

Distribution of LCAD for field testing

| S. No.   | State/Territory Name   | Tablets Distributed   |
|----------|------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh         | 7940                  |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh      | 44                    |
| 3        | Assam                  | 930                   |
| 4        | Chhattisgarh           | 642                   |
| 5        | Delhi                  | 542                   |
| 6        | Goa                    | 246                   |
| 7        | Gujarat                | 3606                  |
| 8        | Haryana                | 3790                  |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh       | 650                   |
| 10       | Jammu & Kashmir        | 738                   |
| 11       | Jharkhand              | 150                   |
| 12       | Karnataka              | 4290                  |
| 13       | Kerala                 | 5471                  |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh         | 6526                  |
| 15       | Maharashtra            | 35,138                |
| 16       | Orissa                 | 1338                  |
| 17       | Pondicherry            | 246                   |
| 18       | Punjab                 | 492                   |
| 19       | Rajasthan              | 3084                  |
| 20       | Tamilnadu              | 13,418                |
| 21       | Tripura                | 246                   |
| 22       | Uttar Pradesh          | 3902                  |
| 23       | Uttaranchal            | 150                   |
| 24       | West Bengal            | 6421                  |
| Total    | Total                  | 100000                |