CHENNAI: Citizens of the state will soon not have to depend on paper trail to avail welfare schemes of the state government. The state is working on creating the State Family Database (SFDB) where citizens of the state will be electronically connected to access the scheme rather than running from pillar to post to get what is due to them.
A top state e-governance agency official told Express that after Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami announced the creation of a State Family Database in the state assembly last year, the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Emerging Technologies is working on the architecture.
The prototype linking some of the key departments will be out in the next six months. "We are also developing the architecture where citizens could be able to key in their details to access government services rather than appearing in person and with files to avail the schemes. Database is an engine, we will also be developing the body like mobile apps, portals etc," the official said
It is learnt that SFDB will be the single source of resident data for Tamil Nadu. It will be maintained in a digitized, centralized and secured manner for the purpose of seamless beneficiary identification to disburse benefits provided by different welfare schemes to eligible citizens.
Official sources said that SFDB is being created to ensure correct targeting of individual beneficiaries and households while extending government welfare schemes. It is learnt that though such schemes have been introduced in other states, Tamil Nadu will be the only state using the blockchain technology.
The official said that SDFB will have a layer of state-wide blockchain backbone: This would be the largest
government-led deployment of blockchain anywhere in the world, with almost the entire population of the state connected through it.
The goal is to have the blockchain serve as a privacy protecting, secure and trusted platform for the government to exchange information with citizens.
Similarly, the state government is looking at predictive analytics for public services. The project aims to revolutionize the way government services are delivered to citizens. This initiative coupled with a blockchain enabled digital wallet for every citizen will be a game changer for public service delivery.
The TNeGA official also highlighted the role of agency in battling COVID-19. He said that the agency was responsible for providing most of the technology and the support around data analytics to the government.
This includes contact tracing and the quarantine management system, hospital infrastructure management, TN ePASS system for movement of people and movement of industrial workers, GIS support for managing containment zones and hot spots, Aarogya Setu (a Government of India mobile app for contact tracing) IVRS automated voice calls, and data analytics and data visualization for policy making.