Govt mulling changes to MyKad features

> India’s Aadhaar system being considered to prevent fraud and facilitate aid delivery

PETALING JAYA: The government is mulling changes to the MyKad, using India’s Aadhaar model, to facilitate delivery of welfare aid and prevent duplicity and fraud in subsidies.

Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran ( pix) confirmed the move through his press secretary Michael Murty yesterday, saying: “We are looking at technologies that will best serve the nation. Details will be revealed later.”

Kulasegaran was responding to a news reports in India about the proposed changes. However, no timeline has been given on its implementation. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on issues in which India holds expertise, including the Aadhaar system.

It is a 12-digit identity number issued to residents of India based on their biometric and demographic data.

Kulasegaran led a delegation of senior officials to India last week to explore the matter.

The delegation comprised representatives from Bank Negara Malaysia, the Finance Ministry, Economic Affairs Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry.

The delegates met Indian ministers and officials and discussed if it was possible for certain features of the Aadhaar system to be used in Malaysia.

“We met UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) chief executive officer Ajay Bhushan Pandey. We have identity cards, but with the (introduction of an Aadhaarlike) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups,” Kulasegaran said.

“We have fuel subsidy. We want to target certain groups (such as B40) and give it to them, not to others. Currently, we send cheques or we give cash. There will be no need for that with the Aadhaar system, as it goes directly into their account.”

He said the government is also looking at linking MyKad to bank accounts.