Revanth Moots AI-Based Unified Card For Citizens In Telangana

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Thursday directed officials to develop a ‘Unified Card’ for every citizen in Telangana, which will have the details of all welfare schemes being availed by beneficiaries. He also suggested exploring the possibility of the state government issuing a unique state-level identity number similar to Aadhaar for integration with the welfare system.

The Chief Minister said the card should clearly reflect the benefits received by every citizen, including the department through which assistance is being provided, the scheme under which benefits are sanctioned, and the extent of assistance received.

He instructed officials to initiate a special drive to collect individual and family-oriented data of all citizens in the state. The data collection drive shall act as a precursor to the creation of the first-ever AI-based profiling system for dynamic tracking of 360-degree beneficiary data.

During a high-level review meeting attended by IT minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu, Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, CM Special Secretary B. Ajith Reddy, IT department Joint Secretary Anudeep Durishetty and other senior officials, the Chief Minister instructed authorities to immediately initiate steps for the implementation of the unified card.

Revanth Reddy observed that analysing the data through Artificial Intelligence would improve transparency in the implementation of welfare schemes and ensure that benefits reach genuine beneficiaries more accurately, while also helping identify ineligible persons.

The Chief Minister suggested replacing the present practice of individual departments issuing separate cards with a single integrated card under the supervision of the IT department. He also instructed officials to utilise young and technologically skilled government officers for implementing the process efficiently.

The proposed card will include details relating to Aarogyasri, Chief Minister’s Relief Fund assistance, fee reimbursement, labour department schemes, education department benefits, insurance schemes and other welfare initiatives introduced by the government.

He directed officials to link the data collected during the recently conducted comprehensive socio-economic, educational, employment, political and caste survey with the unified card database. Apart from beneficiary information, the Chief Minister instructed the IT department to gather data regarding contract and outsourcing employees working across various departments.

He said whenever a death certificate is issued anywhere in the state, the information should automatically reach the Cheyutha pension database so that immediate action can be initiated. He also directed officials to link citizens’ health profiles with the unified welfare card system.

The Chief Minister further asked officials to study the systems being followed in Kerala for workers migrating to Gulf countries. He said information relating to skill development, training programmes, passport services and visa issuance should be made available at a single point to reduce the role of unauthorised agents.

Revanth Reddy said the objective of the unified card is to ensure that welfare benefits reach the poor effectively and to enable the government to accurately assess the impact of every welfare scheme being implemented in the state.