Over 65 lakh children in the age group of 6-18 in the State are set to get special attention for issuance of Aadhaar numbers. Work on conducting special camps in schools is likely to begin in the State.  

With over 1.2 crore schoolchildren in the State, the School Education Department had requested the Revenue Department to set up Aadhaar camps exclusively for children in schools to make it easier for them to enrol. “The Revenue officials will decide after May 5 how many schools they will set up camps in,” a source from the Education Department said.

“Camps in areas such as Chennai will begin later. We will collect data including name, age and address of students. The camps are likely to be held in districts such as Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri shortly,” said an official of Census Directorate.

Following a meeting by the Commissionerate of Revenue Administration, the Directorate of School Education will play a key role on enumeration of the students. A large number of schools in the Chennai Metropolitan area are likely to be covered in the drive after Chennai Corporation and the district administration in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur make arrangements for the special camps.

Around 30 to 40 lakh students across the State have already received their Aadhaar numbers. “It is only now that the younger children are being targeted. Once these students get their Aadhaar numbers, it will be linked to the Education Management Information System (EMIS),” the official added.

Over 69 per cent of the population in Chennai have Aadhaar.

The Directorate of School Education will play a key role on enumeration of the students