Karnataka’s Food Department has launched the Anna Seve mobile application to allow ration-card beneficiaries to complete their e-KYC process themselves using UIDAI face authentication, with the service being piloted in eight districts before a planned statewide expansion on October 10.
Food Minister Rizwan Arshad said the application was developed in collaboration with the National Informatics Centre and the e-Governance division of the Electronic Delivery of Citizen Services to make the mandatory verification process simpler and more accessible. The app was launched on Thursday.
According to the minister, beneficiaries of the public distribution system are required to complete e-KYC once every five years under an order from the Union government’s Department of Food and Public Distribution. The state has identified 2.67 crore beneficiaries whose previous e-KYC was completed five years ago.
As of the end of September 29, 1.56 crore beneficiaries had completed their re-e-KYC through biometric or iris authentication at fair-price shops using the department’s food software application, Arshad said. The department also intends to begin re-e-KYC for beneficiaries whose previous verification was completed four years ago.
The Anna Seve application will use UIDAI face authentication to allow beneficiaries to complete the process without visiting a fair-price shop for the verification itself. However, e-KYC facilities will continue to be available through food inspectors and fair-price shops, according to the department.
The department has also identified 3,82,362 beneficiaries in Karnataka who have never completed e-KYC. Arshad said action would be taken in the coming days against those who do not complete the process, although the report did not specify the nature or timing of that action.
In the first phase, department joint directors, deputy directors and food inspectors were given access to download and use the Anna Seve application. The pilot has now been introduced in eight districts, with the department scheduled to extend it to all districts from October 10. The rollout places responsibility for completing the verification on both the department’s existing ration-distribution network and the new self-service digital channel.
