Karnataka government now allows citizens to define their family

Citizens in Karnataka can soon define ‘family’ on their own terms without conforming to traditional, official meanings for the purpose of availing government services and benefits.

This is under the ambitious Kutumba (Family ID) project, a comprehensive database that the government wants to use for automatic disbursal of benefits to eligible citizens without them having to even apply.

The software for citizens to register their families is under development.

“Any citizen would be able to register in Kutumba by providing information relating to his/her spouse and all unmarried children. However, at the discretion of the resident applying, the family may include other relatives also,” a government order said.

The order specifically states that “single members (widows/destitutes/unmarried orphans) without parents, unmarried brother or sister living with a married sibling as parents are deceased and unmarried siblings living together as parents are deceased” can also be registered as family.

“Every government scheme comes with a definition of family. Some say there has to be a husband, wife and unmarried children. Some say husband, wife and minor children. Some say husband, wife and unmarried daughters. What if there are divorcees? So, we want residents themselves to define their family,” additional chief secretary (e-governance) Rajeev Chawla told DH.

Data on the families that citizens create will then be shared with government departments to determine eligibility for services and benefits, Chawla said.

The Family ID project was first rolled out in August 2019 as a pilot project in Srirangapatna taluk in Mandya district. Following its success, the project was extended to the entire state in May 2020.

First, the ration card database was integrated with data available in other departments to provide government benefits to families in a suo motu manner.

“Then, we found that more than a crore people were not a part of the ration card database. So, we decided that we want residents themselves to define their family,” Chawla explained.

“We have enough data already to give benefits to citizens on an entitlement basis, which means they needn’t apply. For example, Aadhaar is the financial address, so we don’t even need bank account details,” Chawla said.

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, in his 2021-22 Budget, announced that the Family ID will be used to create an Integrated Social Protection System, consisting of a social registry and an entitlement management system.

Family ID has been created for some 5.5 crore residents already.