Scrapped computers to be donated to Delhi government schools

NEW DELHI: The Centre has found a way to reduce the stash of old computers and laptops in government offices, as the usable machines declared scrapped will be donated to state-run schools and other educational institutions, reports Parvez Sultan of The New Indian Express.

The proposal came up during a discussion in a review meeting of nodal officers appointed by the ministries and departments for Special Campaign 5.0 for Swachhata and disposal of pending matters that took place last month.

As per the 2024-25 report of Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), an educational management information system under MoE, out of 14.71 lakh schools in the country, 13.13 lakh are government run institutions and 60.2% of them have computers and 58.6% have internet connection. There are 79,349 government-aided schools with 74% having access to computers and 73.4% internet facilities available.

The secretary for the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) V Srinivas chaired the meeting held through video conference.

“The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) will be issuing a circular on the Vidyanjali Scheme on donation of used personal computers (PCs) or laptops to schools or educational institutions by ministries or departments so that usable computers etc scrapped by ministries or departments can be put to best usage of school children through Vidyanjali,” read the minutes of the review meeting seen by this newspaper.

The scheme is a Ministry of Education (MoE) initiative to connect volunteers, community members, and the private sector with government and government-aided schools to improve education quality and infrastructure.

As part of the scheme, launched in September 2021, a dedicated online portal for individuals and organisations to offer their services, materials, or equipment, ranging from teaching vocational skills and languages to donating educational supplies and improving facilities.

It is going to be a massive exercise to ascertain the number of usable computers and laptops with the ministries and departments. A detailed audit needs to be done,” said officials.

As reported earlier, this year’s Special Campaign on Swachhata (Cleanliness) moves beyond scrap disposal and old record or file weeding. The special focus is on removal of no-longer unwanted electrical or electronic equipment (EEE).

Special cleanliness drive

• Special campaigns conducted from 2021-24 have generated a revenue of Rs 2,364 crores through disposal of scrap

• Special Campaign 4.0 generated revenues of more than `650 crore in October last year

• The Special Campaign 4.0 was undertaken in more than 5.97L sites, resulting in freeing up 190L sq ft for effective office use