Chennai, Sep 6 (IANS): Tamil Nadu School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Monday said that the government has commenced preliminary works to grant administrative sanction to provide 11.72 lakh laptops to school students across the state.

He was replying to the special call attention moved by CPI-M legislator member V.P Nagimaali in the Assembly.

As Nagimaali said that Class 12 students enrolled during 2017-18 were not provided free laptops by the state government till now, the Minister said that a Government order issued on November 1, 2019, clearly states that laptops could be distributed only to students who have enrolled during 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years and who eventually pursued higher education.

Based on this GO, laptops have been distributed to Class 12 students in Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode, Kancheepuram, Madurai, Salem, Theni, and Permabalur districts, he said, adding that administrative sanction has been accorded on February 18 this year to distribute laptops to students of other districts.

These students have to provide a bonafide certificate from institutions from where they were pursuing higher education.

He also said that the state has distributed 45,71,675 laptops to the students since 2011-12 and had spent an amount of Rs 6,349 crore for this.