PAN card in fray for PM award

The PAN card -- mandatory to be quoted for all financial transactions in the country -- is vying for a coveted public administration award conferred by the prime minister.

The Permanent Account Number (PAN) card, possessed by 8.5 crore (85 million) people and organisations in the country and issued by the Income Tax Department, has been shortlisted as one of the 30 development initiatives out of 180 received from across the country.

The PM's award recognises the extraordinary and innovative work done by the officers of the Central and State governments to give their best in the service of the people.

Tax officials say the process of issuing and ensuring PAN card has been shortlisted as 'it takes one through the initial crisis (of establishing infrastructure) and then the re-engineered process which has resulted in stabilisation of the process (making PAN available to applicants)'.