By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 11 Jul: Chief Secretary Radha Raturi approved the budget for the Parivar Pehchan Patra project at the meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC), here, today. She also gave a timeline of one month to the Planning Department for the selection of the vendor for the Parivar Pehchan Project. She has given instructions to pay special attention to data security in this regard.
Raturi emphasised that Parivar Pehchan Patra is an important agenda point of the CMs’ Conclave. In the context of the welfare schemes/ delivery system scenario in the State, the Government of Uttarakhand, through its Planning Department, has a vision to create a live database of citizens and their families through which updated and verified data pertaining to beneficiaries will be shared with various line departments for their respective schemes/services.
The Chief Secretary added that the objective of Parivar Pehchan Patra is to create a comprehensive family database with a unique identification for each family. It aims to create verified, authentic and reliable data of families in the state, integrate it with other service delivery platforms including Apunni Sarkar Portal on-demand through API based mechanism. It aims to provide verification (both electronic and physical, through field visits or kiosks), correction and update of all data points captured for each member of the family and maintain it on the application, link existing Central and State Government services and benefits.
Through the Parivar Pehchan Patra there will be a reduction in the need for providing documentation and proof as they can be accessed from the proposed system or interlinked department systems through Unique Identification. The Pehchan Patra also aims to get the information on the residents for various State Departments for their respective service and benefits.
CS Raturi underlined that the Unique Identification from the Parivar Pehchan Patra will serve as a proof of residential address. This will enable the immediate issuance of Caste and Residential Certificates. It will bring complete transparency in the functioning of the Government and help in improving the level of good governance in the state. She said that all the eligible and often neglected residents (such as Divyang, etc.) will be part of the Unique ID database and will be provided appropriate assistance by the State Government under targeted services and benefits as per their need. Through this, not only will various databases be integrated under the Unique ID project, but it is also proposed to include all the documents and papers related to all the family members.
She added that the Unique ID will strictly implement the rules of the Uttarakhand Government. Due to end-to-end computerisation of various services and functions, citizens can get a comprehensive list of benefits and subsidies offered by the State and Central Government, for which their family members are eligible. Ineligible beneficiaries under various services and benefits will be eliminated after thorough analysis and verification. This will reduce the workload of many government offices in the state.
It was stated at the meeting that Haryana and Karnataka have been at the forefront in adopting this universal family identity concept, wherein the citizen is required to provide the family identity card for applying for any welfare service in these states. Apart from this, states like Bihar, Maharashtra, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, etc., are already working on the concept of uniquely identifying families living in their respective states to further strengthen their scheme delivery ecosystem.
Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram, Additional Secretary Vijay Kumar Jogdande and other officers of the Planning Department were present at the meeting.
