'Chief Minister's Award for Excellence in e-Governance' will be given to youth, students and experts in e governance who design innovative software that will help people's needs, an official release said.

Three awards will be given under Development of Application using Mobile Technology, Innovative Application for Differently abled persons and Development of Application using Neural Network categories, it said.

A jury, comprising Information Technology Secretary, Chief Executive Officers of Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency and ICT Academy and three technical experts from reputed IT firms, will be formed to choose the winners for all three categories, who will receive a trophy worth Rs 15,000 and a cash prize of Rs 2,00,000, it said.

A team of up to eight students, who have completed 18 years, from each government, aided and private colleges in the state can participate for the awards, it said.

Government has also given administrative sanction for setting up of a Public Relations Centre at a cost of Rs six crore.