In a move aimed at austerity, the Information Kerala Mission is hiring laptops for Kerala's e-governance scheme for local bodies K-SMART. Forty laptops will be taken on rent for K-SMART (Kerala Solutions for Managing Administrative Reformation and Transformation) software development team.

As per the tender document, the requirement of laptops will be for different periods of time and it has to be supplied at IKM headquarters, Thiruvananthapuram. The laptops will be hired for a period of one year, till August 2025.

The initial requirement is for 40 laptops however the document notes that the requirement may vary on monthly basis. Rental charges will be paid every month.

An official with IKM said that a cost-benefit analysis showed taking laptops on rent was cheaper than going for purchase. “We are looking for high-end laptops with good configuration and the price would go above Rs 1 lakh for a laptop. Taking such machine on rent would bring down the cost. Also once the purpose is met, the laptops won't be left over as e-waste,” the official said.

The government is planning to launch K-SMART in all the panchayats in Kerala on November 1. At present K-SMART is functional in 93 urban local bodies. Around 10 - 15 modules need to be developed for which laptops are being hired. KSMART is envisaged as a paperless solution to offer services like registration of births, deaths, marriage, building permits, property tax, trade license and public grievance redressal.