Living up to his image of being a tech-savvy Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Friday promised to better the lives of farmers and poor students of Andhra Pradesh with the help of information and communication technology.

In an innovative measure in e-governance and to cut down on malpractices, Mr  Naidu, while interacting with farmers in Tummapala and Gandavaram villages during his visit to Vizag, announced that all government schemes will be linked to mobile phones of beneficiaries. They can get their money through a technique which would be as simple as recharging the talk time of their phones.

Mobile phones will be distributed to farmers free of cost on which they will also receive vital information relating to agriculture, like new trends in farming, know-how on various machinery and prevailing market prices of various agricultural products and also soil conditions.

Mr Naidu, on the first day of his two-day tour of the district, his first visit to Vizag after he was sworn in as the CM, said that students will be given free tablets so that they need not carry their bags to college everyday and can enhance their knowledge about various subjects. Later at a public meeting, Naidu launched the ‘Polam Pilusthondhi’ programme.