HC notice to govt over non-distribution of ‘talking laptops’ to visually impaired

A PIL has been filed in the Karnataka High Court over the non-distribution of free ‘talking laptops’ to visually impaired students in the state. A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka ordered issuance of notice to the state government in response to the PIL filed by advocate S Umapathi.

The petition claimed that the state government has not distributed the laptops to the visually impaired students for the year 2018-19 and 2019-20. According to the petitioner, there was a grant of Rs 4 crore to distribute the laptops when the scheme was launched in the year 2014. However, in the year 2015-16, the grant was reduced to Rs 3.5 crore and it was further reduced to Rs 2.4 crore in 2019-20.

The petition said that the state government had announced the scheme as a policy to distribute the laptops. Because of the drastic reduction in the grant over the years, many students have been deprived of the facility.