Telangana launches Project Mitra to connect residential school students with parents

To install AI-enabled phone booths in Social Welfare Residential Schools, allowing students daily 25-minute calls to parents. Initiative aims to reduce stress, improve mental health, strengthen family ties among residential school students

Karimnagar: In a significant move to help residential school students manage stress and maintain family connections, the Telangana government has launched ‘Project Mitra’, an AI-enabled communication initiative in Social Welfare Residential Schools across the State.

Under the initiative, AI-supported telephone booths are being installed in each school, with seven to 10 booths allocated based on student strength. Each group of four students will receive a smart card, linked to a single phone number — typically a parent’s number — allowing students to call only that number. Each student will be allowed up to 25 minutes of talk time per day.

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In addition to speaking with their parents, students can use the booths to report any issues within their schools by dialling a toll-free number that connects them directly with senior officials from the Gurukul Society.

Currently, students are allowed to speak with their families only once every two weeks or once a month, depending on the school. In many cases, class teachers have been using their personal mobile phones to help students communicate with their families, though time has been limited.

Once Project Mitra is fully implemented, students will have the opportunity to speak with their parents daily, a step educationists believe is crucial for students’ emotional well-being. They point to rising concerns over mental health issues, including incidents of severe stress and even suicides in residential schools.

Experts believe that frequent parental interaction can significantly reduce emotional strain and reinforce family bonds.