A stray incident of mobile handset blast may not have caught the eyes of people had it not been distributed free by Rajasthan government under the Indira Gandhi Smartphone scheme, which promises a smart phone with three years free mobile data for head of every family covered under Chiranjeevi health insurance scheme.
A blast in mobile handset in Ajmer has just put a big question mark on the quality of mobiles being distributed under this scheme.
The ‘Made in China' Redmi A2 mobile handset has not only burnt things kept in the Almirah including cash Rs 21,000, important documents and clothes but also has put over 18 lakh beneficiaries under fear. In the first phase, the government targets to distribute 40 lakh smart phones.
The government is giving Rs 6,125 against handset and Rs 675 for data and SIM card through direct benefit transfer.
“I have also got a Chinese mobile through this scheme and my granddaughter uses it. What if it gets blasted? The incident in Ajmer has really set in terror in entire family,” said 65 year old beneficiary who didn't want to be named.
While government is offering free mobile to women, it should have checked the quality as well.
“When Prime Minister Modi advocates for ‘Made in India' stuff, why chief minister Ashok Gehlot allowed sale of Chinese phone? Is our life cheaper than these outdated ‘budgeted' phones which have tendency of overheating,” said Aryan Choudhary, a social worker.
The case
On Friday, at a home in Kotda area of Ajmer, a mobile handset procured from government's free mobile handset scheme camp, blasted leaving cash, documents and clothes up in flames. Surprisingly, the mobile phone was not on charge. It was kept along with clothes in the almirah.
“I had gone out on my job leaving behind my 15-year old son Anurag at home. Around 10 am, my son called me up and told me that smoke is coming out from almirah. I rushed back home only to find my burnt valuables kept along with mobile phone, who had blasted been when it was kept idle,” said Anu Devi, a resident of Valmiki Colony.
She said that the charger kept along with phone also got burnt.
“I had received this Redmi A2 phone from Jawahar Tang Manch on August 22. I am thankful to God that son doesn't suffer any injury. Though I had financial losses – huge to my standard. The government should give good quality phones. Just because they are giving it for free, one should not risk life for poor quality,” she said .
What experts say?
Experts say that the blast in mobile handsets happen when the handsets are kept on charging for long time. It damages the battery which gets heated and explode. There should be optimum charging for safe use. It's not always low end phone which explodes.
“Recently, an iPhone broke into two pieces after getting blasted in pocket of a businessman in Aligarh. Surprisingly there was no external trigger like charging or heating up of anything was involved,” said Rajesh Joshi, a mobile expert.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
