HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has instructed officials to design a ‘Unified Welfare Card’ to consolidate details of all welfare schemes being availed by citizens onto a single platform.
He said the card should clearly mention the benefits being received by each citizen, along with the names of the respective schemes and departments implementing them. The card should be designed in such a way that it carries details of benefits availed by every individual across various schemes and government departments, he added.
He directed officials to explore, if necessary, the creation of a state-level unique identity number on the lines of Aadhaar.
Caste survey data to be integrated with Unified Welfare Card
Revanth Reddy also suggested that data from the Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste Survey be integrated with the Unified Welfare Card profile.
The chief minister, along with IT Minister D Sridhar Babu, held a meeting with Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and other senior officials. During the meeting, he laid out a detailed plan for implementing the project to create a unified card that would serve as a one-stop solution to track the welfare delivery profile of every individual.
He instructed officials to initiate a special drive to collect individual and family-oriented data of all citizens in the state. The data collection drive would act as a precursor to the creation of the first-ever AI-based profiling system for dynamic tracking of 360-degree beneficiary data, he said.
Revanth emphasised the need to make full use of artificial intelligence (AI) to eliminate duplication of benefits, reduce bureaucratic delays in extending welfare schemes and minimise human interface. This, he said, would strengthen welfare delivery and make it easier to identify ineligible beneficiaries.
He further suggested that the IT department issue the unified cards instead of each department undertaking the task independently. He asked officials to utilise the services of young government officials well-versed in technology.
“The unified card will comprise the overall profile of individuals with data points from welfare-centric departments, including Aarogyasri, Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF), fee reimbursement, labour and education,” he said.
The chief minister also directed officials to consider profiling contract and outsourcing employees working in the government sector. He cited an example of how the AI-based profiling system could ensure that the issuance of a death certificate is automatically linked to the Cheyutha pensions database.
“The profiling system should be able to provide a centralised view of the state’s skilling and training initiatives, as well as issuance of passports and visas. The objective is to reduce involvement of unauthorised persons and agents in the migration ecosystem,” he said.