India’s Gujarat State to assign family digital ID numbers for social service access

Authorities in the Indian state of Gujarat are working on a plan to issue digital ID cards with unique numbers to all families as part of efforts to enable them to easily access government services.

The Ahmedabad Mirror reports that the project, which is fronted by the state’s Department of Social Justice and Empowerment, will greatly facilitate how families get access to certain social benefits.

The new digital ID card system will also eliminate the need for people to visit physical government offices to be served, the outlet notes, adding that the project also entails the automatic update of data concerning families in the state such as details of family members, their age, dates of birth and death and address, among other information.

Officials say the data update will be done on a dedicated government portal and must be completed with the consent of families.

The government has also explained that when the family database is digitized, all state services will be linked to it, and families will not be required to make new applications or provide any additional identity documents for access to programs such as pensions and subsidies.

Gujarat is the latest Indian state to run a family ID program aimed at facilitating how family benefits are obtained from government. The other states include Haryana, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh which ran a pilot for the scheme early this year.

There has been a federal government plan to make the family ID concept in India a countrywide affair.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  family ID  |  government services  |  India  |  social protection