Gone away?: Punjab government moves to quash laptop sale rumours

Market unions warned to refrain from dealing in these laptops.


Shahram Haq April 06, 2012

LAHORE:


The Punjab government moved on Thursday to quash rumours that the laptops distributed among college and university students, were being sold by the recipients. 


Talking to The Express Tribune, Punjab government spokesman Senator Pervaiz Rasheed said no such complaint had been received so far. He said the Punjab government had made students sign an undertaking while receiving the laptops under which they cannot sell them. A student of Kinnaird College for Women confirmed signing the undertaking.

The Punjab government has now issued directions to shopkeepers and presidents of several market unions to refrain from dealing in these laptops. The government also directed the police to monitor computer markets in the city.

Second hand laptop and computer dealers in major computer markets admitted that students had made inquiries about the price of the laptops. However, they said they had not bought any. They said most of these students had come to their shops to install Windows operating system in their laptops.

A shopkeeper at Hafeez Centre, one of the biggest mobile phone and computer markets, said the market president had issued strict orders in this regard.  He said they were told that strict action would be taken against those who were found involved. The penalty might include registration of an FIR against the shopkeeper, he added.

He complained that after the government order the police had “literally” started following youth into the shops. This, he said, was frustrating for the shopkeepers.

Hafeez Centre market president Shahid Bhatti told The Express Tribune that 140 shops at the Centre dealt with laptops. He said none of them had been reported to have bought these laptops.

He said since Linux was not common in Pakistan, most of the students did not know how to operate it and therefore visited the market to install the Windows operating system.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7th, 2012.

COMMENTS (20)

tahreem yousaf | 11 years ago | Reply

i am a student of vu.as you know laptop is most necessary for m.cs student.kindly help me my father is so poor.

Unbiased | 11 years ago | Reply

@adeel ahmed: Its good that the laptops have been loaded with linux. Its a better than windows.

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