The Jammu & Kashmir administration is planning to create a database of all families permanently residing in the Union Territory by allotting them an eight-digit Unique Alpha Numeric Code, according to a report by The Times of India on December 12. The proposed family ID programme is a part of the ‘Digital J&K Vision Document’ unveiled by Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha at an e-governance conference last month. The Family Identity Card will be used to determine the eligibility of the residents for availing social welfare facilities through “automatic selection of beneficiaries for receiving social benefits”, Scroll.in reported. Sinha on Monday said that the database will have all details of the families, and the JK Family ID will be useful in the implementation of social security schemes such as scholarships and pensions. Speaking to PTI, Prerna Puri, the Commissioner/Secretary of the Information Technology Department of Jammu and Kashmir, said, “Once the data in the JK Family ID Database is authenticated and verified, a beneficiary will not be required to submit any more document to avail a service.” The J&K Family ID plan is similar to Haryana’s ‘Parivar Pehchaan Patra’, and Uttar Pradesh’s ‘Parivar Kalyan Card’ for welfare programmes. Why it matters? The need to bring in family IDs has been questioned by many, considering people can use their Aadhaar cards for the same purposes. There is no clarity over the purpose of mandating another ID card. Experts have pointed out that Haryana’s Parivar Pehchaan Patra was brought in to collect crucial personal…
