India to issue biometric smartcards to rural workers
Members of the Indian government recently met with prospective bidders to discuss implementing a biometric smartcard system to improve the living conditions of people living in rural areas of the country, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Mahatma Ghandi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme was designed to assure 100 days of manual work annually to at least one member of every rural household. Launched in 2006, it has come under fire for allegedly leaking money through false job cards and non-existent workers, the Journal stated.
To fix these problems, the Indian Ministry of Rural Development, which oversees the programs, is developing a system using biometric plastic ID cards to enroll workers and ensure attendance at MGNREGS worksites.
“We held a meeting with the prospective service providers today because we wanted to explain to them what the project was really about,” said Arvind Mayaram, additional secretary and financial advisor of rural development.
The MGNREGS project will use the same standards as a separate government project to give every Indian resident plastic cards using biometric identification, known as Aadhar cards. According to the Times of India, the Indian government will begin distributing Aadhar cards in the Nagpur district in November.
Tags: Government ID News
