UID: Register once, get identity for lifetime

BANGALORE, INDIA: The unique identity to be provided to the citizens of India would be proof of their identity provided by the government, and provide Know Your Resident (KYR) power to them.

Speaking at the Leadership Series - Vision 2020 organized by BangaloreIT.biz here today, Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), shared the roadmap of the mammoth project along with the challenges.

He said, “The UID number would be a proof of individual identity. It would not give them claims for any right, privileges, citizenship, but a proof of what an individual possesses to be and help them apply for various schemes like NREGA, RSBY and PDS. This would be non-transferable number that would stay lifelong even after death.”

If the death of the person is reported in the system, then the number would be flagged, but not re-issued, said Nilekani.

“UID will be a demand-driven voluntary number for every individuals from infants to senior citizen. It would depend on various departments if they want to make it mandatory for every applicants.”

The ex-Infosys co-chairman said that a UID will be more beneficial for poor than those who already possess many verification proofs. Since it is a nationwide process, it would provide mobility to them, even if they move from their villages to cities.

The UID will carry name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, father’s name, father’s UID number (optional for adult citizen), mother’s name, her UID number, permanent and present address, expiry date, photograph and biometrics like finger prints and Iris scan.”

Elaborating on the process of the roll out, he said that while the administration team will be in Delhi, the technology team would be in Bangalore.

“The technology group is in Bangalore, working on the developing the prototype and the proof of concept. For another couple of months, Dr. B.K. Gairola, DG, NIC and N Vittal, former CVC would help in setting the guidelines for the biometric and data standard and verification respectively, that includes the enrollment and validation of the UID. In coming six months, we would circulate manuals for various agencies on how to make their process UID ready.”

As reported earlier, the department plans to launch fist set of UID in 12-18 months from August 2009, with a target of reaching to around 600 million people in the next five years. The department sitting in the capital had a two-day workshop with delegates from various countries like the UK, Mexico and Nigeria.

Though the enrollment process would be manual, where individuals need to visit the registering authority, the timely authentication process would be also online and maintained through UIDAI.

Nilekani explained the process of online authentication and updating the data for both individuals and agencies. This is a secure procedure and does not allow outsiders to login to any other account as every person would need to cross the verification questionnaire on a yes/no pattern where a wrong answer will stop him/her.