‘Aadhaar' card distribution from today

News  courtesy-The Hindu

HYDERABAD: The first set of Aadhaar Smart cards in the country will be distributed to beneficiaries by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy at Maheswaram in Ranga Reddy district near here on Friday.

These cards have been prepared under a pilot scheme being implemented by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) in the seven districts of Srikakulam, East Godavari, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Chittoor, Anantapur and Ranga Reddy.

These multi-utility cards, which will replace the ration cards, will help people claim benefits under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Arogyasri, scholarships, pensions, housing and self-help group schemes and even cooking gas, besides the regular monthly quota of essential commodities under the Public Distribution System. Aadhaar cards will serve as ID proof for all purposes.

Transparency

The ultimate aim of these cards is to “make things transparent, prevent diversion of PDS stocks and end corruption. Aadhaar cards will ensure that all the four rupees spent by the government on a beneficiary reached him, and not one rupee as of now,” Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu said here on Thursday.

“We will soon introduce ‘anywhere-ration facility' to facilitate even the families who have migrated from their native places to draw rations. As the Smart card would have encrypted iris and bio-metric data of all members of the family, any member can claim the benefits,” he added.

Highest in country

The Minister said over six lakh families were enrolled, including 11,000 families in Maheswaram, through 3,200 designated photography centres (DPL), the highest in the country. The entire population in these areas would be enlisted by June. In a week, more DPLs would be opened to extend the coverage in the remaining 16 districts.

Sanjay Jaju, Commissioner, Civil Supplies, said Aadhaar-based biometric authentication would restrict the benefit to eligible families. The number of white and pink cards in the State estimated at 1.93 crore and 37,000 respectively, was expected to shrink as bogus cards would be weeded out automatically.