20000 Amma Mobiles to be Distributed Free in Tamil Nadu by CM Jayalalithaa

Earlier in 2013, fans of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched a Smartphone brand called “Smart Namo” which came up with a few limited models. Dubbed as IRONMAN, Saffron, Saffron One these phones came at a price starting at Rs 6500 and upwards. There were also rumors about feature phones which were never launched in actual & the brand seems no more active. Probably they were focused more on gaining publicity through the election campaigns of Namo.

Jayalalithaa who is the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is well known for having a collection of things with AMMA branded products ranging from footwear, sarees and many other. Now we are going to see AMMA branded mobiles to be disturbed for the states self-help groups (SHG) trainers. This new initiative would help Amma in getting more fame since the products will have her name on it & there are rumours that the devices would be given away for free.

In the first phase, the state government plans to produce 20,000 handsets with a budget of 15 crores. The device will launch with Tamil as the default language and also includes specific applications to record and track the data. Last year, there are rumors that the closed Nokia’s Sriperumbudur plant would be undertaken by the Govt of Tamilnadu to manufacture AMMA branded mobile phones, but it didn’t happened till date.

Note: The Tamilnadu CM Jayalalitha had announced similar scheme in 2013, where she had promised ‘Free Laptop’ to students. The plan was to distribute 6.8 Million laptops to the Govt aided school & college students but eventually a good percentage of the initial lot found their way into the grey market. We really hope that women who receive these Amma Phones would eventually use them because the ultimate cost is born by the tax payers & the money shouldn’t be wasted.

Image Credits: newsflicks