Telangana to Issue Family Register Certificates to Safeguard Voters

Hyderabad:The Telangana government has issued orders for the issuance of Family Register Certificates (FRCs) to ration card holders amid apprehensions that lakhs of voters, particularly from Minority communities, could risk losing their names from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) due to their inability to produce valid identity documents sought by election officials.

The move has been welcomed by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, government advisor Mohammed Ali Shabbir and other Minority leaders, who said the initiative would help safeguard the voting rights of genuine voters facing documentation difficulties.

The FRC is among the 12 documents listed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) that can be produced during scrutiny of electoral rolls in the claims and objections phase of the SIR, which begins on August 10. Although the government issued the orders on July 25, the decision came to light on Monday. After studying Karnataka’s implementation of Permanent Residence Certificates (PRCs), the Telangana government decided to issue FRCs.

As per GO 172, issued by the revenue department on July 25, the government has decided to constitute a statewide electronic Telangana Family Register based on the Food Security Card (FSC) database maintained by the Civil Supplies Department. The commissioner of civil supplies has been directed to provide access to the FSC database for issuing FRCs. The certificate will be available through the MeeSeva platform for a service charge of ₹62.

The order said the decision was taken after examining the difficulties faced by citizens in producing an authentic and reliable record of their family composition for availing various government services. The Telangana Family Register is intended to facilitate citizen services, ensure uniformity in verification of family particulars and provide an easily accessible official record of each family.

The ruling Congress has been focusing on protecting the voting rights of Minorities against the backdrop of allegations of large‑scale deletion of voters in Bihar and West Bengal during earlier phases of the SIR exercise. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had alerted Congress leaders and workers to ensure that genuine Minority voters do not lose their names from the rolls due to lack of valid identity documents.

Asaduddin, who had repeatedly raised concerns and submitted a representation to Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju on July 10, welcomed the decision. He said the FRC would benefit poor and undocumented people who receive notices during the SIR process. He thanked the government for acting on his representation made along with Faheem Qureshi, Vice‑Chairman and President of the Telangana Minorities Residential Educational Institutions Society (TMREIS).

Shabbir recalled that he had submitted a representation to the Chief Minister on July 13, proposing that Telangana introduce PRCs on the lines of Karnataka. He said the Family Register would substantially reduce hardships by providing a single government‑authenticated record of the entire family, particularly benefiting poor people who struggle to preserve old records.

Qureshi said the initiative would simplify citizen verification, improve database integration and ensure faster delivery of household records while reducing paperwork. He said making the service available through MeeSeva would improve accessibility across Telangana.

The Family Register will be maintained electronically after creation of a statewide database. For each family unit, it will contain the Family Register Identification Number, the same as the ration card number, along with the name of the head of the family, names of all members, their relationship with the head, age and date of birth, gender, Aadhaar numbers and present address.

The tahsildar of the concerned mandal will be the approving authority for issuing the FRC. Every application submitted through MeeSeva will be automatically routed to the Tahsildar based on the address recorded in the Food Security Card.

The ECI has suggested the below list as necessary documents:

1. Any identity card/Pension Payment Order issued to a regular employee/pensioner of any Central Govt./State Govt./PSU

2. Any identity card/certificate/document issued in India by the Government/local authorities/Banks/Post Office/LIC/PSUs prior to 01.07.1987

3. Birth certificate issued by the competent authority

4. Passport

5. Matriculation/educational certificate issued by recognised boards/universities

6. Permanent Residence Certificate (PRC) issued by the competent authority

7. Forest Right Certificate

8. OBC/SC/ST or any caste certificate issued by competent authority

9. National Register of Citizens (wherever it exists)

10. Family Register prepared by state/local authorities

11. Land/house allotment certificate

12. Aadhaar (as per ECI directions issued vide letter No.23/2025‑ERS/Vol.II dated 09.09.2025, Annexure II)