Laptops given to toppers in Arunachal faulty and defective: Probe report

The 9-member Technical Expert Committee headed by a Circle Officer have confirmed that the 8 laptops handed to the meritorious students of Tirap district in Arunachal Pradesh are faulty and defective.

This was stated in a report submitted by the Committee to Tirap District Deputy Commissioner Hento Karga this morning.

Accordingly, the Arunachal Pradesh government has now decided to replace all 8 laptops with new ones.

To avoid any kind of further embarrassment in this regard, the administration has decided to thoroughly check the new machines before handing them on to the toppers.

The administration also informed that any action that may be initiated against the vendor who had supplied the faulty machines will be taken up by the state education department.

It may be mentioned here that 18 toppers of the 10th and 12 standards in the CBSE 2023 final examinations in the Tirap district were awarded laptops in a program organized by the education department on June 20.

But as days passed by, the students could not use the laptops due to technical malfunctions. Of the 18, eight students had returned the laptops to the DC alleging that the machines were old and used.

The students also alleged that laptops showed severe signs of wear and tear, scratches, ill fitment, malfunctioning of charging slots and batteries, vulgar videos stored, voice recordings and names and signatures of previous users.

The laptops were given as part of the District Academic Toppers Award 2021-2022 being implemented by the Directorate of Secondary Education (DSE), under the Scheme of Budget Announcement 2021-2022, Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

Also Read: Arunachal shocker: Toppers return laptops to Tirap DC