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To ensure elimination of bogus ration cards, the central government is pushing states to go for biometric ones, taking the help of unique identification (UID) numbers. States have been asked to take a lead in distributing biometric ration cards, as identification of beneficiaries for issuing ration cards is a state subject. States like Gujarat, Haryana and Maharashtra have already launched pilot projects to make biometric ration cards. A senior food ministry official said a biometric ration card would be different from a regular one. It would have barcoded details of the beneficiary, with a picture of the head of the family. The card can be read at any ration shop through a machine that will then be matched with the fingerprint details of the beneficiary to eliminate duplication or misuse.

SRIKAKULAM: Department of Fisheries decided to complete process of enrolment of fishermen for the issue of biometric smart cards very soon in Srikakulam district. The department has so far collected photos, finger prints and signatures from 30,000 fishermen and remaining 20,000 will be covered in a phased manner. The department which introduced on-line system for the registration said there was good response from fishermen in the district. Biometric identity cards are compulsory to fishermen engaged in deep-sea fishing as part of beefing up coastal security. The identity card was going to be an important document for a fisherman, the officials said, adding that once the scheme was complete, Coast Guard personnel would not allow anyone to fish without the biometric identity card. The scheme for issuing biometric identity cards for fishermen in the State has been launched as part of a directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs' to keep vigil along the coasts in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

In a bid to establish proper identity of slum dwellers in Capital City, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) is planning to conduct a biometric survey of people residing in slums. "We have already completed slum profiling of 377 slums in Bhubaneswar. We are in process of finalising the proposed biometric survey of slum dwellers living in the city," said BDA Vice-Chairman D. K. Singh here on a sidelines of a seminar on Friday. "The decision to conduct biometric survey is aimed at having actual position (number) of urban poor residing in the city. The survey would ensure that no duplication of identity takes place," Mr. Singh said. He said in future it would also help administration check bogus beneficiaries of various government schemes.

The Dahod district administration has given 10 days notice to all Fair Price Shop (FPS) owners to submit the details of 2.5 lakh biometric ration card holders. This comes after a scam was unearthed in the Public Distribution System in Panchmahals district, where 1.1 lakh bogus ration cards were found during a scrutiny recently. FPS owners have been increasingly making fake cards to get subsidised essential food supplies, according to District Supply Office.

The State-level pilot project of the biometric census for the National Population Register (NPR) began here on Friday. Speaking at the inaugural function, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Minister for Revenue, said that the creation of a comprehensive database of the population would enable the people to avail of the benefits and services under various government programmes more effectively. It would not only aid the planning process, but also strengthen the security of the nation, he said. An iris scan was conducted on the Minister and his fingerprints and photograph were taken during the inaugural function

o not be surprised if you are asked to furnish information under more than eight mandatory heads - demographic and biometric - when you go for registration under the Unique Identification (UID) number project in Himachal Pradesh. The state has tapped the UID project at its initial stage and combined it with its own food and civil supplies department project aimed for better delivery of services in future. Along with the eight mandatory questions under the UID project - name, residence, date of birth, photo, all 10 finger prints and iris image - the citizens will now also be asked to provide information about their status on ration cards, PAN cards, LPG connection and bank accounts. This additional information would be used exclusively by the state government for future planning and eliminating duplication in delivery of services by the food and civil supplies and consumer affairs department. The department is the nodal agency for monitoring the UID project in Himachal.

"The officials have already collected the data relating to 33,316 fishermen in 66 villages after conducting an extensive survey in the 10 coastal mandals of the district for issue of tamper-proof ID cards using fingerprinting technology and pooling the information in a centralised database of the centre to better manage the internal security. The ID card comprising details like the name of the fisherman, parents' names, address, educational qualification, ration card number and voter ID card number, would be very be very useful particularly when fishermen were stranded in the high seas at times of natural calamities, he added. In all, 4,190 fishing boats were registered in the district so far as per the Centre's directive, he said."

The Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) is set to become the first educational campus in the country to function through unique identification (UID) numbers. The UID-enabled campus will work towards making a cashless environment where all transactions from buying a notebook to a parantha in the canteen will be done through UID numbers and biometric (fingerprint) authentication.

" The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is planning to use bio-metric devices for attendance, on-site monitoring system for lifting of bins and GPS for garbage vehicle tracking to improve efficiency of the sanitary system. Reviewing the work of various GHMC wings on Monday, municipal commissioner MT Krishna Babu expressed displeasure with the present sanitary system, particularly garbage lifting and staff attendance."

With India planning a huge database of 1.5 crore criminals for matching with the hand or face sample of an accused, the criminals or terror mongers will find it much tougher to hide. A fingerprint or a face in a CCTV shot captured from a crime or terror scene anywhere in India would lead the law-enforcing authorities straight to the culprit at the click of a button. The home ministry is working on an ambitious project to collect the fingerprints, palm prints, faces and iris samples of all the arrested and convicted persons in the country and store these in a central database. This biometric data will be accessible to all the police units across the country for getting real-time results on the identity of a suspect. Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/home-ministry-plans-national-database-on-criminals/1/157679.html

"BALANGIR: Chaos reigned supreme over the Unique Identification Card (UID) data procurement process in Balangir, with poor people queuing up eagerly hoping to be doled out more rations and old age pensions, only to be disappointed and irritated at the painstaking process of collecting their photographs, eye and thumb impressions. Even as BPL families left spaces meant for filling up PAN card number, DL, LPG card number, pension ID, health insurance number, etc., blank in the UID forms, they remained clueless about the purpose of the UID, trekking to the centres where the enumeration process for the multi-utility UID document is on, with the idea that they will be given immediate rewards like more rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS) or immediate jobs under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). Needless to say, the places were scenes of total chaos as villagers were seen losing their patience. Thay failed to understand the entire exercise and had little idea what the UID card is all about."

" Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution has given top priority to Public Distribution System (PDS) reforms which include improvement of infrastructure for distribution and storage of PDS food grains. State Governments have been urged to take initiatives to computerize system and adopt best practices of management. Accordingly, States have taken several initiatives. As per information received from the States some of them are as under:"

the managing committee of the group housing society now finds itself in the middle of another controversy: for making it mandatory for skilled workers to furnish their fingerprints before entering the complex. The managing committee has been warned by the police to stop the illegal practice. "We received an e-mail from two members of the society about the practice being carried out, following which we issued the warning. As per law, only government investigative agencies have the right to take fingerprints. We will look into the possibility of taking legal action once we receive a complaint from those whose fingerprints have been taken.