The Ministry of HRD’s ambitious project Aakash, a low cost tablet for the students is taking new turns, the latest is that DataWind, the Canada based manufacturer is kicked out from the project, reports Mint.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said that Government is severing ties with DataWind Ltd for the production of the Aakash tablet. DataWind was first mandated to provide 100,000 units of the device, but so far IIT-Jodhpur received 10,000 devices. Now the government is proposing to build the low cost tablet on its own and eventually indigenize the product. The government will see that the initial price will be unchanged at Rs.2,276.
Sibal said in an interview to PTI, “There have been some problems with DataWind I must confess,†“Therefore, I have got into the act. The IT ministry has got C-DAC and (state-run) ITI Ltd into the act, and I am going to ensure that this product is fully indigenous and truly an Indian product.â€
A high powered committee comprising members from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Department of Information technology, the IITs and some other public sector units will supervise the project.
is this an attempt by vested interests to thwart the process ? doubts arise regarding the motive behind disassociating with datawind
We have a Design Progam where students work for Product Design aspects.
If interested both product design with ergonomics can be taken care at IIITDMJ
there has been no official communication of breaking of ties to datawind.
there can be no question of datawind not delivering the full consignment. how can they if they do not get money for the tablets already delivered!
see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/news/hardware/Aakash-maker-to-IIT-Rajasthan-Pay-up-for-more-supplies/articleshow/11987627.cms