Maharashtra considering proposal to monetise ‘Golden data’ of beneficiaries of govt schemes

“At present, we are test-running the portal. One of the proposals, once the portal starts running smoothly, is to monetise the data with private companies, start-ups and financial institutions. This is not an isolated idea but is in line with the central government policy. All the privacy related issues have already been addressed at the central level,” said a senior official from the Information and Technology department.
The official said that the shared data will be anonymous and no personal information will be shared. “But this will effectively help private companies who conduct their market research before the launch of the product,” the officer said, adding that a final decision is yet to be taken.

The state government’s Golden Data platform will have economic, social and geographical details of almost every citizen of the state. “The aim is to implement welfare schemes by weeding out ineligible beneficiaries. The data available with various government departments has been consolidated,” the official added. He mentioned that the data will remove duplications, inconsistencies from the existing system.

The information will be linked to Aadhaar card number of an individual. Once the number is typed, person’s name, age, gender, religion, caste, annual income range (not exact income), education, vehicles owned, beneficiaries of government scheme, children if any, will be available. The state has sought data from the Income Tax department as well as vehicle data from Vahan, which will be uploaded once received. On a later stage, health record will also be linked to the MahaID.

The state government implements more than 50 welfare schemes, including centre’s schemes, the latest being Majhi Ladki Bahin scheme under which Rs 1,500 per month is given to women in 18-65 age group. Based on the Golden Data, almost 26 lakh ineligible women beneficiaries have been found. The woman and child welfare department has undertook physical verification of these beneficiaries.

“We will handover the data to the department concerned when a particular scheme is to be implemented. The data pool is meant to be for the smooth implementation of welfare schemes of the state government,” the official added.