The government is seldom benevolent in its dealings. Whenever there are freebies being distributed, some tax-payer's money is surely going down the drain. But when the UP government actually showed that election promises can come true by handing out notebooks with a more-than-decent config, there had to be a catch somewhere. But this time it's not because the politicians goofed up, but because the chosen few decided to get greedy!

The laptop in question: The HP Pavilion G4 features wallpaper that says "Pure Hote Wade" (promises being fulfilled) along with a picture Akhilesh and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. A report in the Hindustan Times suggests that after warnings against forced unloading of the wallpapers had been issued in advance, student who actually went ahead and tried the stunt ended up with bricked laptops.

However, that is not the case as Vishnu Mohan, Marketing Manager of the UP Electronic Corporation Limited tells us. He explained that the wallpapers can very well be changed, but tampering with the image of the UP CM appearing on the boot-up screen will surely kill your laptop. So, the obvious warning to students is that don't try meddling with the BIOS settings of the machine.

But since the notebooks are covered under a year's warranty, the service centre will fix the issue, but that, quite obviously, will take time. Those who are facing issues though can drop a line to the distribution agency UP Electronic Corporation Limited at [email protected] or [email protected].

Those who thought of making a quick income trying to sell off their laptops were also in for a rude shock. Local shops seem to be shooing them away as the Lucknow administration is keeping an eye on the devices. District magistrate told HT that anyone who will be caught selling or buying the notebooks will be "prosecuted as per the agreement signed in the registration forms".

Looks like the UP government (with or without Mayawati) surely knows how to keep a tight rein on everything it does.

TAGS: Laptops, Government, HP