The Ministry of Information Technology and Digital Services will roll out a laptop scheme, providing 10 lakh laptops to college students through ELCOT, Minister Dr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan announced.
Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu allocated Rs 2,000 crore in the 2025-26 budget to provide laptops and tablets to 20 lakh students over the next two years.
In a policy note, the minister emphasized that Data Purity would play a key role in identifying beneficiaries for these initiatives.
Additionally, the ministry has digitized around 41 lakh government files under its e-office initiative, enabling 1.5 lakh government employees to carry out their duties digitally, reducing reliance on paper and improving operational efficiency. “This is a significant step toward enhancing government operations,” the minister said.
The minister said his ministry aims to complete its ambitious optical fiber project by the end of this year, with 93% of the work already finished. The project, led by Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited, involves laying 57,500 km of optical fiber to connect 12,525 villages with 1 Gbps bandwidth.
Despite delays of over 1.5 years under the previous administration, fiber has already been installed in 11,639 villages. The project has been divided into four packages, two of which are nearly complete. To date, around 2,000 government offices have been connected, and the state’s minister has assured that efforts are being made to ensure the network’s efficient operation and uptime.
The government is also providing internet services to all Tamil Nadu government offices via TANFINET, with plans to extend the service to the public. For last-mile connectivity, a model similar to cable TV operators will be used, where internet providers, acting as franchisees, will offer services via the fiber network. So far, 4,700 panchayats have applied for this service.
The minister expects high-speed internet, offering speeds of up to 100 Mbps at ₹200 per month, to be available to households within a month. “This initiative, which brings high-speed internet to every village, is a significant step toward social justice,” he said, adding that access to such services is vital for educational opportunities and social equality.
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