Govt may cancel Aakash tablet project

The government is all set to cancel the Aakash tablet - India's low cost version of an iPad - that is suffering from delays in manufacturing, a faulty processor and low memory. The new Human Resource and Development Minister Pallam Raju made the decision of cancelling the tablets, which has been a dream project of IT and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.

It was feted as India's fitting answer to the iPad and a low cost alternative that was to change the way India's students learned. But the tablet, launched with lofty words by then HRD Minister Sibal, who had termed it as a "milestone recognised by future generations" has turned out to be a lemon. The USD 35 device has not met expectations and the government finally conceded a failure in production.

1 lakh tablets were to be delivered by 31st March. But only 17000 have been delivered to IIT Bombay, while the vendor, Datawind said another 29400 are in transit, much less than the original target.

The HRD Ministry has warned Datawind with strict action but admits it is just a hollow threat. "The other challenge is productionising it. We are hoping the productionisation happens on time, then it can be available," said Raju.

Meanwhile, Jaynarayan Vyas, leader of the main Opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said, "I am not surprised at the fate of Aakash. It has been a disastrous failure". There was a huge difference in quality between the prototype and final version.

Projected cost was USD 35, but the final launch price of Aakash 2 is nearly double that. The gadget is also plagued by a myriad other faults.