Representative image

GURUGRAM: As many as 500 government school students in the state have a reason to cheer. The government has decided to give free laptops to those who have scored more than 90% marks in the Class 10 state board examination.

The government schools across the state have been asked to prepare a list of toppers who appeared for the state boards in March 2019. The education department will divide students into five categories which include first 100 toppers, top 100 girls in the general category in, top 100 boys in the scheduled caste (SC) category, top 100 girls belonging to the SC category and top 100 students from the BPL category.

“We have received a letter from the Haryana government informing us about the free laptop scheme,” said Indu Boken, district education officer of Gurugram. The students who have passed their board exams this year will be awarded these laptops, which will be handy for them to prepare themselves for higher studies.

Education department officials will also prepare a list of BPL students. The government will distribute free laptops to the students — both boys and girls — of economically weaker sections of all communities whose annual family income falls below Rs 2.5 lakh. “The department will verify the records of these students. It will prepare a list of beneficiaries after verifying their family income and other admission records by the end of this month,” said Boken.

The education department has already issued a circular to all government schools, informing them about the ‘free laptop distribution scheme’.

Earlier in July, the state government had issued a notice to all districts about a similar scheme, but no laptops were distributed because the list was not prepared by a few districts. This scheme will also encourage the students to secure good marks in the board examination.

