An iris recognition system is going to be used to identify pensioners for their pension payments in Andhra Pradesh. This new system will replace the thumbprint identification system currently in place in the Krishna district.
It’s part of an effort to cut down on fraud, according to one official. In that sense it echoes the wider biometric effort underway nationally via the Aadhaar program, which has sought to create a biometric registry of citizens, partly so that the government can cut down on fraud in the administration of its services and subsidies.
One of the most remarkable aspects of that program is its ambition to reach all Indian citizens, and a similar claim can be made of the iris system in Andhra Pradesh, given that even in its trial phase it will be implemented at the village level. Once again India is proving to be a pioneering country in the implementation of biometric technology.
