The central government employees would be given mobile, laptop, or comparable gadgets worth up to Rs 1.3 lakh, which they may keep for personal use after four years. In an office memorandum, the Expenditure Department of Finance Ministry listed guidelines for issuing mobile, laptop, tablet, phablets, notebooks, notepads, ultra-book, netbooks, or devices of similar categories to eligible officers for official work.
According to the guidelines, all central government officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above will be entitled to such electronic devices. In the case of Section Officers and Under Secretaries, 50 per cent of the sanctioned strength can be issued such devices. When it comes to the cost of the device, the office memorandum said it could be Rs 1 lakh plus taxes. However, for devices with a Make-in-India component of more than 40 per cent, the price ceiling will be Rs 1.30 lakh plus taxes.
"No new device may be sanctioned to an officer who has already been allotted a device, in a ministry/department, up to 4 years except in case of repair, which is declared as 'beyond economical repairs'," the memorandum said. It further said post completion of four years of usage, the officer shall retain the device.
"Concerned Ministry/Department shall ensure that the data in the device is completely wiped out (data sanitised) before the device is handed over to the officer for retention," the memorandum said.
The prior memorandum, which was released on March 27, 2020, has been superseded by the one dated July 21, 2023. In the older one, there was no provision for the retention of gadgets for personal use, and the cost of such equipment was capped at Rs 80,000.
(With inputs from PTI)