Tamil Nadu to distribute smart ID cards to government school students

CHENNAI: Edappadi K Palaniswami, Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu, launched smart identity cards for school students studying in state run and state aided schools, on June 13. K A Sengottaiyan, Education Minister of the State, announced that the smart identity cards are going to be distributed among 70.66 lakh students across the state.

The minister said that the smart cards will have QR code technology to obtain vital information about the student like name, date of birth, attendance, blood group, photograph and address, among other things which are stored in a common database.

46.61 lakh students of government schools and 23.99 lakh students studying in government aided schools will receive these cards. The card distribution is going to initiate in phases, in the first phase all students studying in government schools will receive their smart cards and then in the second phase, the students of government aided schools will get their smart cards, said the minister. The smart cards will be linked with the biometric system which was introduced in over 7,000 government schools.

Senior officials from the School Education Department said, “The smart ID cards will help parents keep track of their wards. In case, students are absent, an SMS will be sent to the parents”. The order issued by the state government in October 2018, indicated that with a budget of nearly Rs 12.71 crores the Tamil Nadu Text Book and Education Services Corporation is going to carry out the printing and distribution of these smart cards, and any unexpected expenses are to be met from contingency fund.