THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The IT department asked for a referendum from secretariat employees after complaints arose about the 750 laptops recently purchased having technical glitches. The choice to be made is between a normal desktop computer and a laptop. The 14-inch hp laptop allotted to officers received a flurry of complaints including neck strain, soring eyes, and other technical difficulties. The employees wrote to IT secretary Ratan Kelkar about the complaints faced which initiated the government to come up with a solution.

The IT department in the past two days collected remarks from many employees, most of them tilting in favor of desktop computers. The final report will be given to the chief minister after which the officials will decide on what to do with the excess laptops purchased.

Rs 2.81 crores were spent to purchase more than 700 laptops to replace the five years and more old desktop computers. However, the present alter-course from the employees has tangled the officials to bring back the thousand and more desktops placed in the office.