Tamil Nadu starts distributing 2 million laptops to government college students

The government in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has started distributing two million laptops to students of government colleges. This is being done as part of a scheme known as "Ulagam Ungal Kaiyil" (World is in your hands), which is aimed at promoting digital advancement and skill development among students. Chief Minister MK Stalin officially started the first phase of distribution on Monday, (January 5), in Chennai. This major youth-centric welfare scheme comes barely four months ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.

According to the Tamil Nadu government, this two-phase initiative would cover government college students from various academic disciplines, including engineering, arts and science, medicine, agriculture, law, and technical education, among others. The laptops meant for the students have been procured from renowned brands such as Acer, Dell, HP, at a total expenditure of Rs 2,000 crore ($221mn), said the government.

These laptops are a gateway to success; they come with specifications such as Intel i3/AMD Ryzen 3 processors, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD storage, Windows OS, BOSS Linux OS, MS Office 365, Perplexity Pro subscription, explained Professor V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras. He added that these laptops would help students attend online courses, access digital libraries, learn and practice programming languages, among a host of other applications.

Chief Minister Stalin said that similar laptop distribution will take place across the districts of Tamil Nadu. He emphasised that digital empowerment and the progress of students will help the state and country. “The laptop is not a gift, it is an opportunity to rule the world... As far as we are concerned, this is not an expenditure, but an investment for the future generation's education.” In 2011, during the tenure of former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, Tamil Nadu became the first state in India to provide free laptops to millions of students in government-funded secondary schools and colleges.