Delhi govt to issue smart card with unique ID number

A smart card, incorporating the much-talked about unique identity number, will be launched in the city next year to primarily help the poor and illiterate easily avail the benefits of various welfare schemes.

The first of its kind project is being envisaged by the IT department of the city government after it was found that benefits of various welfare schemes often do not reach the intended beneficiaries.

Officials associated with the project said they wanted to incorporate the unique identity number to be issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India into the smart card to make it "more effective and foolproof."

"Initially, we will issue five million cards having the Unique Identity Number," a top official told PTI. He said the team chosen for the project has been in touch with the Unique Identification Authority headed by IT czar Nandan Nilekani.

"The incorporation of unique identity number will help authorities in online verification and authentication of the beneficiaries," he said. The smart card will cover services of as many as nine
departments that include departments of food and civil supplies, labour, education, child and women development, among others.