Want to hire a laptop, ask Maharashtra MLA or MLC

Want to hire a laptop, ask Maharashtra MLA or MLC
HAIMA DESHPANDE

MUMBAI, JAN 15: The state may be facing an unprecedented financial crunch, but that is no hurdle for the Democratic Front government to make its elected representatives techno-savvy.

The govt has decided to give its 288 MLAs and 76 Members of the Legislative Council Intel Pentium III 650 MHz laptops, each costing Rs 1.89 lakh. The machines have been supplied by HCL Infosystems Limited. The purchase will be billed to the constituency fund of the members. A number of MLAs and MLCs spoken to were ignorant about the source of payment.

When contacted they said they would hire out the units. ``If it is for the constituency, then let the people benefit. By hiring it out, we will get money for the constituency,'' one of the members wishing anonymity told The Indian Express.

While a number of them have not bothered to even open the package, some others confessed that they did not know how to operate the machines. ``If we spend all our time learning computers when will we have time for the people. We are constituency people and have to be in close interaction with the masses. If we spend our time learning to operate this when will we meet the people. The laptop will not get us our votes,'' said a Congress member.

Letters were sent out to the elected representatives last week, inquiring the place of their choice for the said delivery. Without waiting for a response the same was delivered to the residence of a number of them. Said Shiv Sena leader and member of the Legislative Council Pramod Navalkar, ``I could have done without it.''

Said a Nationalist Congress Party MLA: ``I am not going to freeze my brains on this thing. The concept has not caught on in my constituency. I have only just started hearing words like website and internet.'' Another added: ``I have the laptop lying around somewhere in my room. I have to look for it. I prefer the hand stuff and the files to this. Besides, if my people did all the work like collecting data, what will the Mantralaya employees be doing?''

Only a handful of them are elated with this `gesture' of the government. A majority of them felt that the laptops are not only cumbersome but a great hindrance in dispensing their duties as the representatives of the people!

The exercise was undertaken by the DF government in pursuance of the Central Government move to make the elected representatives techno savvy. The Centre has already distributed laptops to the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. A committee set up by the state government to study the feasibility of the idea found conflicting views on the issue. Yet, according to sources the state government has gone ahead and distributed the laptops.