India to Shift from Aadhaar to Voter IDs for Government Scheme Beneficiaries

The central government is preparing to change the way beneficiaries are identified in panchayat raj schemes. Aadhaar will no longer be the primary identification document for availing benefits of government schemes. This will be replaced by the Voter ID card i.e. Epic number. Beneficiaries will also have to undergo biometric verification along with it. Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said on Tuesday. Under the new system, beneficiaries will be paid for government schemes on the basis of this identity. The minister told the media in Gangtok about this change. He said that Aadhaar is being used to pay beneficiaries of government schemes. But it will no longer be the primary means of identification. In the new system, beneficiaries will have to give their Epic number along with biometric verification. According to the minister, these two things will be their identification documents. Biometric ID will be given to beneficiaries on the basis of their biometric identification.