Thane, Jun 8 (PTI) A sum of Rs 1,000 each will be transferred into the accounts of 42,000 students of civic schools to enable them to buy internet data packages for smartphones to help them in online studies, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra's Thane district announced on Tuesday.

There are 75 civic schools, including 55 primary schools, under the NMMC.

The sum will be paid in two instalments for the first semester, and efforts would also be taken to help those students who do not have smartphones, a civic official said.

"This decision was taken in October but then got pushed back as the COVID-19 cases started to fall and the aim at the time was to resume classroom teaching," said NMMC commissioner Abhijit Bangar.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)