Telangana Rolls Out Digital Family Register to Ease Government Service Access

In a move towards digitising administrative records, the Telangana government has launched a State-wide electronic Family Register and Family Register Certificate (FRC). The initiative is designed to provide citizens holding a Food Security Card (FSC) with an authenticated record of their family composition, thereby simplifying access to various government services.

According to G.O.Ms. No. 172 issued by the Revenue Department on July 25, the Family Register will be maintained electronically using data sourced from the Food Security Card (Ration Card) database maintained by the Civil Supplies department. The register will include details such as the family’s ration card number (which will serve as the Family Register Identification Number), names of family members, their relationship to the head of the family, age, date of birth, gender, Aadhaar particulars, and residential address.

As part of the initiative, the Telangana Family Register Certificate has been introduced as a new service on the MeeSeva platform under the Revenue Department category. Citizens can apply for the certificate through MeeSeva centres, the online portal, or the mobile application by providing their family’s ration card number and paying the prescribed fee. The government has directed that applications be processed within two working days.

The order also directs the Commissioner of Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) to establish Application Programming Interfaces (API) integration with the Food Security Card database to enable automatic population of family details in the register. District Collectors have been asked to oversee implementation and ensure that instructions are communicated to revenue officials across the State.

Welcoming the initiative, Adviser to the Telangana government Mohammed Ali Shabbir described the Family Register as a significant citizen-centric reform that would reduce documentation-related hardships faced by poor and economically weaker families. He recalled that he had earlier represented to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy seeking the introduction of a Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) on the lines of Karnataka, particularly in the context of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Mr. Shabbir Ali noted that the Family Register addresses a broader administrative need by creating an authenticated digital family database.

AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi also welcomed the government’s decision, observing that the Family Register Certificate is among the 12 documents accepted under the Election Commission’s SIR process. He noted that the certificate would be issued through MeeSeva on payment of a ₹62 service charge.