India's Andhra Pradesh state plans to install iris recognition scanners for elderly Indians receiving pensions, after a thumbprint system results in too many errors.Some 85 villages and 15 municipal wards in two municipalities of Krishna District have been identified to implement a pilot project for the iris programme.India's unique ID number, the Aadhaar, is linked to biometric data including fingerprints, iris scans and facial features.An Aadhar-enabled payment system to validate pension beneficiaries' identity was introduced in the state in December, with Rs 577 crore (US$93 million) due to be distributed to four million “old age, widows, physically-challenged, toddy tappers [palm wine gatherers] and weavers across the state”.Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said earlier this month that 21 service-related areas will be linked to Aadhaar, including pensions, rural employment guarantee scheme and commercial tax.As of this week, about 745.6 million people, or 61 per cent of India's 1.2 billion population, had been allotted Aadhaar numbers. The government's target is to enrol everyone for the scheme by June. In 15 states, the percentage of enrolment is over 90 per cent. Some 140 million bank accounts have also been linked with Aadhaar numbers.
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