Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Mobile App Becomes The First Government Scheme To Have Face Authentication

The government launched a face authentication feature in the PM-Kisan app on Thursday, making it the first central welfare program to incorporate this technology. Beneficiary farmers can now complete their e-KYC procedure by scanning their faces on mobile devices, eliminating the need for one-time passwords or fingerprints.

Senior officials, including Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary, Agriculture Secretary Manoj Ahuja, Additional Secretary Pramod Kumar Meherda, and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, attended the unveiling of this new app feature.

During the announcement, Meherda shared that the PM-Kisan scheme has become the first government program to conduct e-KYC through facial authentication on a mobile app. This feature is particularly beneficial for elderly farmers who do not have their mobile numbers linked to their Aadhaar cards.

The pilot test for the face authentication feature in the PM-Kisan mobile app began on May 21 this year, according to Meherda. Since then, approximately 3 lakh farmers have successfully undergone e-KYC. Previously, PM-Kisan beneficiaries had to complete e-KYC using biometrics at designated locations or through one-time passwords sent to their registered mobile numbers linked to their Aadhaar.

During the e-KYC process, officials encountered cases where farmers’ mobile numbers were not linked to Aadhaar, preventing them from completing the procedure. Additionally, elderly farmers faced difficulties reaching the nearest centre for biometric verification, and there were instances of fingerprint mismatches. To simplify the e-KYC process, the Ministry decided to introduce the facial authentication feature in the PM-Kisan mobile app. The face authentication feature uses the iris data from the Aadhaar number of the user.

The official stated that the Unique Identification Authority of India provided access to the facial authentication feature as they possessed the Aadhaar iris data.

Furthermore, the PM-Kisan scheme is merging with Bhashini, the government’s National Public Digital Platform for Languages. Bhashini will leverage artificial intelligence and advanced technology to provide services and information to farmers in their preferred language.

Introduced in 2019, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme provides eligible farming households with the financial aid of Rs. 6,000 per year in three equal instalments. The money is transferred directly to their bank accounts through the DBT mechanism. According to the Agriculture Ministry, over 11 crore farmers have benefited from the program, with Rs. 2.42 lakh crore being disbursed to their accounts.