Assam Chooses Laptops As Pre-Election Freebies For Journalists

By Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Guwahati, Feb 15 : Just ahead of the Assembly elections, this is an idea that Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi hopes will click with journalists in the state. In a day or two, the Assam government will hand out a shiny new laptop to every journalist who has completed 10 years in the profession — provided he or she accepts the present.

Announcing the gift on January 1 this year, Gogoi had denied it was a pre-election lolly to journalists. “This does not have anything to do with elections,” he had said.

“We had made a promise for welfare of journalists in our election manifesto five years ago, and laptops will be given in recognition of the services of journalists to their society and profession,” he said.

Gogoi had also announced a 3 per cent subsidy on housing loans taken by journalists.

The government is currently in the process of drawing up the list of beneficiaries — including both reporters and editors — in consultation with the managements of newspapers.

It is understood the list includes some 600 names — and the laptops, given the imminent announcement of elections and the simultaneous triggering of the code of conduct, are expected to be passed on very soon.

Distributing computers has been somewhat of a habit with the Gogoi government. In 2005, it launched a scheme of gifting computers to every student who had secured a first division in the high school leaving certificate exam, the state high madrassa examination and the state Sanskrit board finals.

Over 70,000 desktops have been distributed. Since 2010, the students have been given laptops.