KIANEWS Provide Internet access and free smartphones to 13.3 million female heads of households in India
04. 12. 2022 Sunday / By: Robert Denes / Generic / Exact time: BST / Print this page
R ajasthan authorities have selected Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel in a tender worth over Rs 12,000 crore to provide internet access and free smartphones to 13.3 million female heads of households in the state under the 'Mukhyamantri Digital Seva Yojana'. As part of the program, household heads enrolled in the Chiranjeevi welfare insurance system will receive smartphones with web connectivity for 3 years.
Three of the country's telecommunications service providers participated in the tender. While the details of the deal have yet to be finalized by the authorized committee of the state authorities, according to experts, the distribution of the free smartphones will start from the second week of December.
Samsung and HMD Global, in collaboration with Reliance Jio, will supply the phones in three batches after issuing the letter of intent and placing the purchase order - officials said.
Practically 60% of the connections will be presented by Jio, while the rest will be fulfilled by Airtel, in the contract with Samsung, stated one of the many officers.
Under the agreement, for 3 years, Jio and Airtel will provide 4G connectivity to everyone with 20GB data every 30 days with unlimited voice calls.
Samsung has opted for the Galaxy A03 Core, priced at Rs 7,500, while Nokia is sure to provide one of the low-cost, entry-level devices, and Reliance Jio will be shipping a brand new 4G smartphone that is not yet available in the market, but the earlier according to the quoted official. Chinese smartphone manufacturers were not allowed to participate in the tender.
The first SIM slot of smartphones must be locked at the service provider, while the second SIM slot must be kept open for another telecommunications service provider. Smartphones need to be loaded with apps for federal government systems along with e-Mitra, a one-stop app available to all state authorities, and the Jan Kalyan app, a public welfare portal.
Sanmeet Singh Kochar, Vice President, India and MENA, HMD International said: “At Nokia Mobiles, our mission is to make cellular science accessible to everyone. To advance this agenda, we are in talks with a number of state governments to ensure that Nokia Mobiles is part of building the country's digital capabilities."
The allocation of devices and activated SIM game cards is done in the district and sub-district areas, which is assisted by the district administration with the help of on-site eKYC. According to the tender, the telecom operator monitors the activations and provides a quarterly statement to the federal government, which evaluates and processes the costs as a foundation.
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