BUSINESSES WILL GAIN FROM UNIQUE ID PROJECT
By admin at 1 October, 2009, 2:32 pm
Businesses will benefit from using the Unique Identification Number that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) hopes to issue to all residents of India, the Chairman of the Authority, Mr Nandan Nilekani, said on Wednesday. For example, a telecom company could save costs of verification of the identity of each new mobile subscriber, Mr Nilekani said. Another example: the State governments typically spend between Rs 20 and Rs 50 to issue a ration card. They could use the UIN and save substantially. Speaking to journalists of The Hindu group of publications here, Mr Nilekani said that the Authority expects to issue the first UIN anytime between 12 and 18 months from now. It expects to have at least 600 million-strong database in four years from then. Mr Nilekani stressed that all that the Authority would do is to provide online authentication of identity. The number is only for identification, and not for any other purpose such as proving citizenship or entitlement to State benefits. While there are other countries that have issued identification numbers to citizens, the system of ‘online verification of authentication of identity’ is unique, he said.
TO WORK WITH PARTNERS
Explaining the features of the unique identification project, he said that the Authority would give only a number, not a card, to residents. To reach out to the masses, it will work with ‘partners’. The partners could be any organisation that is in touch with the public – such as banks, insurance companies, government departments and passport offices. In fact, the biggest ‘partner’ of the Authority is the National Rural Employment Guarantee Authority, which works with 80 million families or about 200 million people across the country. These partners will ‘enrol’ the people they deal with. For example, a bank may ‘enrol’ its new customers into the UIDAI database.
STANDARDISED PROCESS
The process of enrolment will be standardised and simple. Prints of all the ten fingers, a picture of the person and some basic demographic details – such as address, age – will be collected and fed into the UIDAI database. There will be penalties for those who seek UIN on false data. Once enrolled, the person will be given a randomly chosen number. Thereupon, whenever a need arises for verifying the identity of the person – like opening a bank account or checking into a hotel – the person would only need to give the number and press his fingers into a biometric reader. Within seconds, the verifier would get a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. No details will be provided. Similarly, address verification is also possible. Asked about the cost of this mammoth project, Mr Nilekani said the Authority as yet had “no fix on the cost”. However, he said, the costs are a one-time incurrence, but the benefits would flow in perpetuity.
HUGE SAVINGS
The project would bring in good and more inclusive governance. Mr Nilekani gave the example of LPG connections, where about a fifth of out of the estimated 110 million connections are under non-existent names. Assuming an annual subsidy payout of about Rs 800 per cylinder per year, the unintended subsidy paid works out to over Rs 1,600 crore – on only one commodity, LPG. Also, over time, the Authority intends to charge for address verification. Mr Nilekani said that a law would have to be brought in to enable the project and the Authority is working on it.
FAVOURABLE RESPONSE
He said that he had been meeting with top officials of various States, (the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, for instance, on Wednesday) and the response has been entirely in favour of the project. Further, there is a big offer of support from well-settled Indians abroad, for the project which is seen by them as both beneficial to the country as well as “technologically stimulating.” “Unsolicited, I have received a few hundred e-mails from people all over the world who want to work with us on the project,” he said, pointing out that the project work itself is very pioneering, a voyage into unchartered territory. Giving an idea of the complexity of the operations, Mr Nilekani said that suppose after four years, the Authority has a data base of 400 million persons and on a particular day there is a demand from 3 million people for enrolment, then each of the data of the 3 million will have to be checked against the 400 million data fields to rule out duplication – in one night. This will require huge processing power, he said
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