Changes to MyKad likely

PETALING JAYA: The national identity card (MyKad) system could be modified using India's Aadhar model.
The changes are for target delivery of welfare schemes and to prevent duplicity and fraud in the government subsidies. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered his Malaysian counterpart Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad collaboration on issues in which India holds expertise, including Aadhaar initiative.
Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained by India residents based on their biometric and demographic data.
Human Resources M Kulasegaran (pix) led a delegation of senior officials to India last week on the matter.
The delegation consisted of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) officers, the finance ministry, the economic affairs ministry, and human resources ministry, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday.
The delegates met Indian ministers and officials and discussed if it was possible for certain features of the Aadhar system to be replicated in Malaysia.
"We met Uidai (Unique Identification Authority of India) CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey ... We have identity cards, but with the (introduction of an Aadhaar-like) system, the primary aim is to avoid duplicity of payments and fraud, and to target specific groups," Kulasegaran was quoted by the agency as saying.
He confirmed that Malaysia is also looking at linking MyKad to bank accounts.