Family ID next big thing for robust delivery of govt schemes, services: UP minister

Family ID — a database of families with unique identification numbers — will be the next big technology-based intervention in robust delivery of services and schemes to people in Uttar Pradesh after Aadhaar and direct benefit transfers (DBT), said UP’s Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun.

Family ID was launched in January this year on a pilot basis for which registration is voluntary. According to official figures, around 44,000 people have enrolled themselves so far on the official website — familyid.up.gov.in.

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Major initiative of UP govt

Family ID is a 12-digit unique identification number carrying details of a family, serving as a central repository of family attributes to automatically determine their eligibility for government schemes and extend benefits to the missing beneficiaries, Arun said.

The database will be used by around one-and-a-half-dozen departments such as education, social welfare and labour that dole out DBT, he said.

“One of the major initiatives of the Uttar Pradesh government is the Family ID which uses the ration card number for identification of a family. We get details of a family either through a ration card or a family register. They get an Aadhaar card which takes information from 17 departments and we get to know if a beneficiary has taken Kisan Samman fund or student scholarship, among others,” Arun told news agency PTI in an interview.

“We also get to know which families have not availed the benefits or have been left behind. There are still many families which are not aware of the government benefits and miss those,” he added. Scheme targeting would “drastically improve” with the Family ID in coming years, the minister said.

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Inspired by Karnataka

Asked if any similar models elsewhere inspired the Family ID initiative, he said the Uttar Pradesh government studied Karnataka’s Kutumba initiative. The Kutumba initiative has been developed as an Integrated Social Information System (SIIS) consisting of a social registry, integrated beneficiary management systems, beneficiary registry, a payment platform and a grievance redressal system, according to its website.

The project aims to achieve suo motu delivery of benefits and services by checking entitlement, identifying eligible residents and thereafter sanctioning/approving the service or scheme.

(With Agency inputs)