Unique Identity Number: A mammoth project
The government at the center expects to give every Indian a Unique Identification number in the next five years. The project will ensure that the underprivileged get their fair share of social welfare and government schemes.
THE UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (UID) project for all Indian citizens is a mammoth project led by Nandan Nilekani, the former co-Chairman of Infosys and the present Chairperson of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), along with his team. As per the project, the government expects to give a unique identification number to every Indian citizen within the next five years.
The proposed project is perhaps one of the greatest challenges faced by the government as it demands networking at several levels to acquire the massive data required to initiate the project. According to various statements and interviews given by Nilekani, the unique identification number will not be an identity card. The number will be included in important documents like election cards, PAN cards and bank accounts. Quoting Nilekani, “There is the technological challenge, there is a challenge of the scale of work, and there is a complex governance challenge, working with so many governments and states.” The Unique Identity number will be supported by biometric authentication which means that fingerprints and photographs of more than a billion people will be taken and saved ,when they are registered for the number. In fact, the online information will be the biggest such national database in the world. The numbers will be saved online and assist in instant online authentication of the identity of every Indian. According to reports, UIDAI office will have to scrutinize the documents of nearly 80 million income tax payers, who possess Permanent Account Number (PAN); some 200 million account holders in private and public banks; some 500 million mobile phone users and over 600 million Indians, who have election cards. There is a considerable overlap in this information since many of them might possess all or many of these identifications. UIDAI office will also look at the database of Indian passport holders, Public Distribution System cards, and list of cooking gas consumers in the country. Since large numbers of underprivileged people do not have any form of identification, it becomes all the more difficult for them to avail the benefits of social welfare schemes. Nandan Nilekani said, “The project is pro-poor and inclusivly targeted mainly towards the poor. People on the margins are lost because they lack identity.” This initiative will ensure that the marginalized get their fair share of the social welfare and government schemes. Nilekani’s office will be working with the state administrations, state governments, centre government, more than 20-25 agencies like the Election Commission, Income Tax department and others to roll out the identity numbers. This project will become operational in phases and if successfully implemented, it will be hailed as a landmark venture.
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
