IAS officer's software to root out duplicate beneficiaries

IAS officer Munish Moudgil has now come out with an improved algorithm which can remove duplication of names of beneficiaries from the database of government departments.

At present, the software developed by Moudgil has been used to identify beneficiaries under the newly launched Parihara scheme. It is a scheme under which the Centre’s input subsidy is deposited by the state government directly into farmers’ bank accounts. Lakhs of farmers have benefited so far under this crop loss compensation scheme.

IITian Moudgil, as the Commissioner of Land Records & Survey Settlement, had indigenously developed the name-matching algorithm that gives a graded score. In just a couple of minutes, the software reads thousands of names and after making a comparison, matching scores are generated. In the updated software, the comparison is presented in terms of percentage, Moudgil said.

The officer said, “Checking names manually in a huge database like in Aadhaar is time consuming and a challenge too. To overcome this, I developed the algorithm or coding so that even identifying fake beneficiaries or applicants for various certificates could be made out.”

Moudgil, who is now the managing director, Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Company Ltd, has not yet patented his algorithm. The government, while using it for Parihara, had not acknowledged his contribution. He had written to the Revenue Secretary saying ‘Name/String Matching Algorithm’ was his personal creation. It is said that the chief minister is all set to issue a commendation letter to him.

He has now expressed his intention to work with the Bhoomi Monitoring Cell to roll out an improved version of the algorithm for land records.