Children from economically weaker sections, studying in government higher primary schools in Karnataka, will soon get free computers, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has said.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA), the chief minister said on Tuesday that providing computers will uplift the quality of teaching.

“Grants will be allotted in the upcoming State budget,” he said. Presently, free computers are being given to high school and pre-university students belonging to economically weaker sections.

The chief minister said he would take steps to provide better infrastructure in schools in border districts of the State.  

Shettar said the State government would soon constitute a committee to suggest ways for the effective implementation of the Kannada Software Policy. Scholarships were distributed at the function to students studying post-graduate courses in Kannada in the universities in neighbouring states.

“As many as 94 students belonging to economically weaker sections received cheques of annual scholarships worth Rs 20,000 each. Students from Osmania University in Hyderabad, the Kannada post-graduate and research centre in Kasargod, Solapur University, Dravida University in Kuppam, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madras University and Mumbai University received the benefits,” said Mukhyamantri Chandru, Chairperson of the KDA.

Nudi 5.0 launched

The KDA has launched the upgraded version of Nudi software, which addresses typing problems faced by users. The new version, called Nudi 5.0, has been developed by Kannada Ganaka Parishad and has 10 font styles and is unicode format compliant.