HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is actively using Samagra Vedika - an integrated platform comprising a 360-degree profile of every citizen in the State, which it created - to plug all possible loopholes in its welfare programmes.
A document by the government’s IT Department, accessed by The New Indian Express, details how different arms of the government use this tool to determine citizens' eligibility for various flagship programmes.
For instance, in the 2BHK housing scheme, the December- 2019 document quotes the Siddipet district administration on how Samagra Vedika helped it weed out unscrupulous applicants and determine who is eligible for the scheme.
The issues that the administration came across while vetting the applications for the scheme included applicants reapplying in the name of family members despite being allotted a house earlier. Also, some had submitted low-income certificates, even though they were financially well off.
Experts flag data privacy concerns
Samagra Vedika analysed 11,621 applications that the Siddipet district received for the 2BHK housing scheme, and reported that only 2,363 were 'quality' applicants. It flagged 2,678 applications which needed further verification and 2,181 as 'low priority'.
Using this information, the government could choose not to consider 4,459 applicants. In case of the Aasara pension of Rs 10,000 for senior citizens, leakages in the scheme had been bugging the administration for long. Here again, they used Samagra Vedika to conclude that 6,625 of 65,693 applications received by December 2019 were ineligible.
Activists question policy
However, data privacy activists point out serious concerns with Samagra Vedika. Calling it illegal, inde pendent policy researcher Srinivas Kodali said, "Samagra Vedika builds 360-degree profiles. It is in direct violation of the Supreme Court judgements on the Right to Privacy and Aadhaar. For TS to build this database, it must have a separate law in place".
How does it work?
It gathers data from different databases regarding electricity and water connections, house and land ownership, old-age pension and vehicle ownership, among others, and assesses it to know if an applicant is truly eligible for the scheme.