Govt likely to miss tablet deadline

The promise made by the Samajwadi Party government to distribute tablets to 26.62 lakh students who passed Class X is unlikely to be fulfilled in the current financial year ending in March.

In the last 10 months, the government has failed to find a vendor to supply the tablets. And, according to its own timeline, the selected vendor will be allowed eight months to make the supply.

In May last year, the government had entrusted the task of procuring tablets to UP Electronics Corporation Limited (UPECL). UPECL published the Request for Proposal (RFP) document for selection of vendors for supplying tablets on November 21. The technical qualification bids had to be opened on January 7, but no firm turned up till that date.

Left with no other option, the government has extended the date of submission of technical bids to January 25. The bidding firms would have to make a presentation of technical specifications of their tablets before officials on February 2. The firms qualifying technically would be asked to submit financial bids in the next one week.

Principal Secretary of IT and Electronics Jivesh Nandan said, "Various firms interested in supplying tablets had sought more time for submitting bids and hence the date of bid submission has been extended."

The final decision to select vendors among the successful bidders would be approved by the state Cabinet. The selected vendors will have to deliver 5 per cent of the ordered quantity within 60 days from the date of signing of the agreement. .

Another 5 per cent would be delivered in the next 30 days, another 10 per cent in next 30 days and remaining 80 per cent in four phases in next four months. The entire quantity of 26.62 lakh Tablets has to be supplied in eight instalments within eight months.

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