Tuesday, December 10, 2013: Ever since the launch of first Aakash tablet PC, the makers have been promoting the ‘made in India’ tagline big time. The device was surely assembled in India, but we wonder if we can really call it ‘made in India’. Addressing this concern, the government of India is now reportedly planning to make the manufacturing of the device mandatory in India. According to a government source familiar with the matter, the latest tender inviting bids for Aakash 4 devices will carry the clause that the device should be manufactured in India.
Even after the failure that Aakash tablet PC has seen so far, the government of India doesn’t seem to give up on the idea. Recently, the Department of Electronics and IT has notified the specifications for Aakash 4 device. The vendor neutral technical specifications of Aakash 4 were finalised by a sub-committee including Prof. Ashok Jhunjhumwala, IIT Madras, Prof Deepak Pathak, IIT Bombay and Prof Rajat Moona, DG, CDAC. Extensive consultations have also been held with the industry by the committee. The draft specifications were also put on DeitY website for two weeks and comments from public taken into consideration before finalising the specifications.
The specifications have been designed to inter-alia specify minimum hardware requirements, minimum software requirements, mechanical and environmental specifications, safety and other standards compliance, maintenance and serviceability, other features, contents of tablet package and testing criteria. These specifications have been developed with a view to have a low cost device.
According to the DeitY newsletter, it is proposed to invite all vendors interested in supplying Aakash 4 to participate in the tender, which is going to be floated by DGS&D shortly. DGS&D will empanel vendors on rate contract based on their well established procedure in this regard. Any Government Ministry/ Department/ organizations, either from Central Government or State Government would be able to procure Aakash 4 from the DGS&D rate contract without having to go for fresh tenders. This will tremendously facilitate the procurement of Aakash 4. DeitY has also written to all Central Ministries to use Aakash 4 in their e-governance applications. Some of the salient terms and conditions for empanelment of vendors for Aakash IV Tablets through DGS&D Rate Contract are as under:
• The bidder should be a legal entity registered in India and be the original equipment manufacturer of the Aakash IV Tablet hardware as per definition of domestic manufacturer of Tablet in terms of DeitY Notification No. 8(41)/2012-IPHW dated Jan 22, 2013.
• The impaneled vendor should be authorized to use ‘Aakash’ logo from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune.
• The empanelled vendor should undertake to preload content to be provided by the buying organisation on the Tablet, as decided from time to time.
• The qualified vendor shall provide one year warranty against any manufacturing defects.
• The vendor shall provide repair, service and maintenance support for Aakash Tablets in at least one location in all the States and UTs of the country either through themselves or tie-up with a third party (North Eastern States/UTs including Sikkim may be treated as one unit for this purpose). Spare parts for each model of Aakash Tablet should be available for a minimum period of 3 years from the date of sale.
• User Acceptance Testing shall be undertaken by the indenting departments as per the testing criteria to be prescribed by C-DAC.
Watch out this space for more info on the latest tender of Aakash 4
