The Ministry of Education (MoE) and Common Services Centers (CSC) have recently signed an important Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to implement the APAAR ID initiative. This happened in the presence of important government officials through a formal ceremony involving the Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Mr. Shri Jitin Prasada and its Secretary, Mr. Shri S. Krishnan, amongst several other distinguished dignitaries.

The APAAR ID initiative is dedicated to ease the lives of these students and to design a framework in which the improved lives of these students can be brought to fruition. The broader expectation is that with this partnership, transformative changes can finally be achieved on the delivery of educational services, thereby ensuring that students in rural or remote areas have an easy opportunity for varied educational benefits.

It will be integrated with the existing digital infrastructure of CSCs, which is the critical touchpoint related to service delivery of the government to the rural population, hence improving access. The huge outreach of CSC would mean upscaling and generalizing the coverage and utilization of APAAR IDs in making the overall educational service more inclusive and accessible to all.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Shri Jitin Prasada said that this partnership is a phenomenal step towards the realisation of the long vision of the Government relating to Digital India. He said that APAAR ID will tremendously streamline the process of availing educational services, and thereby add to the digital empowerment of students at large across the country.

The same sentiment was echoed by Secretary MeitY, who further explained the technicalities of the initiative, particularly in linking the APAAR ID to CSCs, and confirmed that there would be a very strong framework to address the educational needs of the very many students with great efficiency and effectiveness. This will go into fixing several challenges that confront the sector in its endeavor to make sure no person is left behind due to insufficient or lack of access to resources.

Other dignitaries shared views on the same, further emphasizing the need for the APAAR ID initiative to be successful in a joint way. They said they had high hopes that this MoU would become a forerunner and, in opening similar avenues for the future, continue strengthening the education ecosystem of India.

Initial pilot programs of the APAAR ID initiative are to kick off in some regions. A review and insight from these pilots will inform how the nationwide rollout can take place to ensure the system is optimized to make the right changes.