The time has come to reap political dividends from the Punjab government’s laptop scheme, as the provincial government has issued directions to the quarters concerned to compile domicile-based data of the recipients in order to woo them in the upcoming general election, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources said the chief minister, through the Higher Education Department, had issued directions to Inbox Solutions — the company which compiled university-wise data of all the recipients — to now compile the data of students based on their domiciles.
A senior official said on condition of anonymity that the exercise, being done for the upcoming general election, was only the first step, and MPAs and MNAs would be handed over the data to woo the students and their families for votes in their respective constituencies.
The Punjab government distributed more than 100,000 laptops to students “on merit” across the province. The CM and the entire political regime in the Punjab celebrated the scheme as a step to laud the youth. Critics from day one apprehended political motives behind the move, but the PML-N top leadership dispelled the impression, saying a noble move was being portrayed in a bad light.
In a recent high-level meeting, policy makers decided to limit the laptop-distribution to students belonging to Punjab, as students enrolled in the varsity came from all across Pakistan.
Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, however, said the students enrolled in various universities across Punjab belonged to other provinces as well and it was the government’s intent to distribute laptops only to “our” students.
He dispelled the impression that the move was politically motivated, saying the laptops were distributed on merit and had nothing to do with domiciles.
“The domicile-based data is being compiled because the government needs the addresses of recipients to provide them after-sales service, software updates, etc because many of the students have passed out of universities and have returned home,” he said, adding that the move should not be seen in a “negative” light at all.