Govt examining feasibility of preparing common database of govt scheme beneficiaries

The government is examining the feasibility of preparing a common database of families that are eligible for benefits under welfare programmes, to administer the schemes, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

IT and Communication Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha that there is no proposal with the government to develop a “National Social Registry” but since a large number of government welfare programmes provide benefits to families as the unit, an accurate family database is considered important for administering such programmes.

''Various departments of state and central governments have been developing such databases for specific schemes like the Public Distribution System (PDS), Housing, Healthcare etc.

''To understand the feasibility of preparing a common database with family as the unit, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) initiated Proof of Concept (PoC) in July 2021,'' Vaishnaw said.

He was replying to question from BJP MP Varun Gandhi who also asked if the government is aware of the Supreme Court's observations in the case of Puttaswamy vs. Union of India that the profiling of citizens by the State could result in discrimination based on religion, ethnicity and caste.

''Yes, Sir. Government is aware of the Hon'ble Supreme Court's observations in the case of Puttaswamy vs. Union of India,''Vaishnaw said.

The minister said Meity has taken adequate measures to ensure integrity and security of data in the PoC.

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