GURGAON: Haryana’s digital education programme for govt schools has been stalled by delays in finalising contracts for the repair and maintenance of tablets issued to students.More than 1.85 lakh tablets are currently non-functional across the state, according to an education department official, leaving schools without a mechanism to get damaged devices repaired.The state education department requires four tenders to keep the devices running – for mobile internet SIM cards, learning software, device security management and an annual maintenance contract (AMC) for hardware repairs. So far, only the SIM card tender, at Rs 19.95 per month, has moved forward. Without active repair and maintenance tenders, devices that are damaged after their original manufacturer warranties expire cannot be fixed.Gurgaon is among the districts affected by the issue. The district received around 33,000 tablets in 2022 for students in govt schools. A school teacher said nearly half of the devices are now non-functional due to cracked screens, dead batteries and system-related problems.The teacher said tablets were issued to each student in Classes 10 and 12, with a nodal officer appointed at each school to maintain records. “However, nearly 50% of these tablets are currently non-functional because students bypassed security restrictions to download prohibited apps. Some families even falsely claimed the devices were lost or broken to retain them. Today, no active tablets remain with students as all devices were collected and locked away in school custody after exams,” the teacher said.Distribution for the new academic session remains stalled because the official tender process to address app restrictions and technical defects is still pending, the teacher added.The scale of the problem is significant as the Rs 700-crore scheme was launched to provide digital learning support to five lakh students in Classes 10 to 12. An education department official said more than 85,000 tablets across the state now have damaged screens, while around one lakh others are not switching on.This creates a stark contrast between official records and reality. According to data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report, the state claims that nearly 90% of govt schools are equipped with digital learning tablets. However, teachers and parents asked what good these numbers are when more than half of the distributed hardware is lying useless in school cupboards.An education department official said approvals have now been granted to expedite the pending tenders. The department expects the contracts to be finalised and the tablets restored to working condition soon.