Bhubaneswar, July 19: Meritorious Plus Two students entitled to receive laptops under the state government scheme may collect them from selected colleges in their districts from August 15.

One college in each district have been designated as distribution centres. The laptops will be handed over to students from all the 30 districts from the respective distribution centres.

BJB Autonomous College and Ravenshaw Junior College will be the distribution centres in Khurda and Cuttack respectively.

The department of higher education has finalised the distribution process of laptops at a meeting headed by principal secretary Gagan Kumar Dhal. The laptops will be given to the selected colleges before the distribution day and proper measures will be taken for their security.

The first phase of distribution will start from August 15 with the chief minister distributing some of them to students. In the first phase, 5,000 laptops will be distributed from 30 centres.

The Council of Higher Secondary Education has already made the list of deserving students. “Of the 15,000 students selected for the scheme, 5,000 are from SC/ST category. The chosen candidates will have to bring their identity proofs along with the council admit card to claim their devices. In case the student is not able to come, his relative or family member will be allowed to accept the laptop on behalf of the student,” said Dhal.

Officials said that in case of malfunctioning laptops, the devices would be replaced from the distribution centres within a specific time frame.

The department is also mulling a pre-distribution computer-training programme because the scheme will continue for the next five years. The distribution will be monitored by the principal of the distributing college.

“The principals have been given strict orders to work along with the district collectors for smooth running of the distribution system,” said Dhal. The principal would nominate a nodal officer for the work.

The distribution of laptops under the State Youth Policy, 2013, invited a lot of criticism from various quarters with allegations that the scheme had been devised to woo voters.