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This is an archive article published on January 19, 2012
Make Aakash consumer-friendly,Govt tells IIT
The same was conveyed to the IIT authorities in a meeting chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday
The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has asked IIT-Jodhpur to withdraw the military style specifications it had drawn up for the Aakash tablet and come up with tablet specifications suited to a general consumer. The same was conveyed to the IIT authorities in a meeting chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Tuesday.
The Indian Express first reported that IIT-Jodhpur and Canadian firm Datawind were bickering over a range of issues involving the governments showpiece 35 Aakash tablet and the ministry has had to repeatedly step in to defuse the crisis.
The IIT was told to define the testing protocols for the tablet,but Datawind objected,calling these more suitable to the rugged military tablets customised to function in hardy weather.
The 35 tablet,on the other hand,is a basic and uncluttered device targeted at students and packed with features intended for educational use.
IIT-Jodhpur handed out a list of technical specifications for rugged military tablets the kind that Hewlett Packard developed a few years back for usage under extreme weather conditions. Datawind objected to these specifications,as confirmed by Datawind CEO Suneet S Tuli,and the ministry has now asked IIT-Jodhpur to develop specifications suited for students.
Eyebrows are also being raised over IIT developing military specifications,which,far from being original and customised to Indian needs,appear to be exact copies of the HP rugged tablet specifications.
Aakash was developed following a six-year project,with a Rs 4,772 lakh contract given to IIT-Jodhpur for a low-cost access-cum-computing device.
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