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Smart card technology to help New Delhi citizens on benefits
17 Mar 2010

A new smart card is to be launched in New Delhi in order to help those who need to claim benefits from welfare schemes, the Press Trust of India (PTI) has reported.

The card will incorporate a unique identity number that will allow citizens to be quickly and easily identified.

It is hoped that this will enable those entitled to welfare support to claim more easily and to cut down on instances of benefit fraud.

Government investigation demonstrated that welfare allocations frequently do not find their intended targets and a technological solution was sought.

"Initially, we will issue five million cards having the Unique Identity Number," an official told the Press Trust.

An identification scheme relying on smart card technology is not unique to India.

In Canada there are calls for biometric data to be incorporated into passports, while in South Africa there have been protracted attempts to issue smart identity cards, though these plans are currently on hold.

Incorporating a unique identity number into the cards should make it much more difficult to forge.

Smart card technology is being used in an increasing number of facets of daily life. Payment for transit services or low value goods is possible through the use of contactless smart cards in many countries across the globe and new possibilities are emerging every day.