Free laptops are passé,smart phones appear to be the next
‘in-thing’when it comes to wooing youngsters in the election season. While a
number of political parties in the past have promised to offer free laptops
across the country, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh has taken a
step forward by promising 50 lakh 4G ‘smartphones’ to youth aged between 18 and
35 years if the party comes to power. Registrations for these smartphones are
being carried ‘online’ till 30 November.

To get registered, one must be a bonafide resident of
Punjab, aged between 18 and 35 years, must have passed matriculation and
his/hers yearly income should be less than Rs 6 lakh. Not surprisingly,the
Congress claims that registrations for this ‘Captain Smart Connect Scheme’ have
crossed over 13 lakh till date. Of this, 19 per cent registrations have come
from Ludhiana, 8.8 per cent from Amritsar and 8.2 per cent from Patiala.

More than 82 per cent of those who have registered are men
and 18 per cent are women. Interestingly, most of the women who have registered
for the smart phones belong to Chandigarh, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. About 60 per
cent of the registrations have come from people between the age of 18-26 years
and 30 per cent are from the 27-35 years age group. Congress workers, supported
by the party’s student and youth wings as well as election strategist Prashant
Kishore’s Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC) team members, have been
keeping a close watch on registrations through special desks set up near
colleges, coaching centres, market areas and even ATM queues.

 Youths registering
through the website are being provided receipts with unique codes, which will
entitle them to receive the 4G-enabled ‘Smart Phone’. Vijay Inder Singla,
Congress leader and former MP from Sangrur, said that the ‘Captain Smart
Connect’ initiative was aimed at helping youths belonging to poor families, who
can’t afford smart phones.“It is a unique initiative and is definitely going to
help the youths in the state. It will also help to educate the youths who are
deprived of socio-economic benefits,” he said. Capt Amarinder on 20 November
promised to give 50 lakh ‘smart phones’ with one year of data and calling
service for free. He had said that the party will make allocation in the state
budget to meet the cost of the scheme.