Privacy Groups Demand Halt to Telangana's Unified Welfare Card Over Legal Concerns
The Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) and the Hyderabad-based NGO ASEEM have called on the Telangana government to suspend plans for a proposed unified welfare card, citing the absence of a legal framework. The organisations submitted a representation to the state government, arguing that the initiative violates the constitutional right to privacy as recognised by the Supreme Court.
In May, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao directed officials to explore the creation of a unified card to streamline benefits across various welfare schemes. The stated objective was to build comprehensive welfare profiles of beneficiaries and enhance transparency through artificial intelligence-driven data analysis.
However, the activists contend that the proposal fails the three-part test established by the Supreme Court in the landmark K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India case. The judgment held that any state restriction on privacy must have a legal basis, pursue a legitimate state aim, and be proportionate to that aim. “An executive direction or departmental order is not ‘law’ for the purposes of Article 21. Without a statute that defines the purpose, limits the data collected, governs retention, sharing and security, and provides independent oversight and redress, the scheme is without authority of law,” the representation states.
The groups further argue that the Chief Minister's directive does not include a provision for human review. “Automated matching fails routinely on spelling variations, data entry errors and outdated records. When it does, a person of means loses convenience,” they said, highlighting potential injustices for marginalised beneficiaries.
The representation demands that any data integration proposal be referred to the state legislature. It calls for the adoption of data minimisation practices, auditing, and public disclosure of the Integrated People Information Hub, which was created using data from the Samagra Kutumba Survey. The groups seek the discontinuation of this hub until it operates under a lawful framework. Additionally, they call for field verification, guaranteed human review, and the establishment of a grievance redressal mechanism for those denied benefits.
The demand to keep the unified card in abeyance underscores ongoing tensions between technological efficiency in governance and the protection of fundamental rights. The state government has not yet issued a formal response to the representation.
