[Reader-list] First lot of Unique ID in 12-18 months- 195

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

20,000 crore will be saved by UIDAI issued UID numbers. Or so goes the
rhetoric! 1,00,000 new jobs will be established. Or so goes the claim.
This number will not be a citizenship document. Or so goes the
promise.

- My good wishes for Nandan Nilekani and his team. I sincerely wish
him success. He seems like a nice, honest person. He seems to have
good ideas for India. Technology could save India from its poor.
Technology could actually bring a difference in people's lives. -

This view is so breathtakingly believable that one tends to suspend
disbelief whenever it is floated. One actually wants to believe in all
the technological  myths which have engulfed us as a nation since
Independence. Let us try and remember theese big myths in the last 60
yrs starting with -The Big Dam, The Green Revolution, The IT
revolution, The national highways linkup project, The Nuclear Bomb,
The IT revolution, The back office brigades, The railways, The metros,
The BRT's, The Monorails, The PAN cards, The Ration Cards, The LPG
cards, The Voter ID cards, The Driving Licenses and so on.

What sort of redistribution of public money has these myths resulted
in? Could these myths help in any way for the good of all? Did these
myths not result in increased arrogance of the State? Did these myths
not allowed some of us to think, dream, plan and execute for all of
us?

The writer of the story below wants us to understand that how a UID
number will -benefit- all of us by actually reducing the corruption.
The question is not whether this myth is viable or not, but the
question really is whether, should we celebrate every myth of epic
proportions with equal reverence?

Please do read the story below for more.

Warm regards

Taha

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/First-lot-of-Unique-ID-in-12-18-months/articleshow/4886915.cms

First lot of Unique ID in 12-18 months
TNN 13 August 2009, 02:37am IST

NEW DELHI: A single random number will establish your identity. It
will carry no "intelligence" but do away with use of ration cards,
passports
and driving licences as ID proofs. It could save Rs 20,000 crore by
eliminating fake and duplicate identities under various government
schemes.

In a presentation to the PM's council on the unique identity project,
its chairman Nandan Nilekani said the authority would aim to provide
600 million people, or about half the population, ID numbers in four
years. The first UIDs will be issued in 12-18 months. Though covered
by a legal framework, it would not be mandatory to have a unique ID
number.

The Council "in principle" approved the draft strategy and though UIDs
will not be mandatory, the IDs would ultimately be made compulsory by
implementing agencies of various schemes. People would require ID
numbers as benefits may be mandatorily linked to numbers.

With the authority offering a strong online authentication where
agencies can compare demographic and biometric information, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh told the council that the government attaches
high priority to the project. Lack of ID proof results in harassment
and denial of services. It would specifically improve delivery of
flagship schemes.

It also argued that once numbers are rolled out, the internal security
scenario in the country will improve as tracking of crime and
criminals will become easier. Similarly, it will help banks to
increase their revenues

The Council decided that ministries, departments and other associated
agencies having a public interface will provide databases to the UID
authority to facilitate rolling out of the numbers. Authentication of
this data will be done through biometrics.

Counting on the sheer utility of such a number, the authority feels
that the demand-driven scheme will find ready takers. It will network
with major registrars like the NREGA, PDS and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima
Yojana, to provide accurate information of beneficiaries and nip
fraudulent claims. Nilekani informed the Council that new PAN cards
can be linked to UID numbers. Every year approximately one million PAN
cards are issued.

The ID will not be a card, but just a number issued to a "resident of
India", a defination that means that it is not proof of citizenship.
This allows the authority to skirt around the politically sensitive
issue of identifying non-citizens like Bangladeshis, but on the other
hand its processes might make it difficult for a non-Indian to get
hold of a unique ID number.

The data base maintained by the authority will contain, for the first
time, biometric information by way of a fingerprint. The central data
base will have your name, the names of your parents, their UID
numbers, an expiry date and a photograpgh. The authority will answer
queries about identity in a yes or no format while agencies utilising
the facility can store data only if authorised to do so.

Since the UID data will be carefully validated by a technology-driven
system, it is not expected to suffer from deficiencies caused by
people providing differing personal information while applying for say
a ration card and a driving licence or even re-applying for the same
document multiple times. The scheme, it is hoped, could stem losses
like the Rs 1,200 crore estimated to be siphoned off by way of
duplicate or ghost identities.

The authority will regularly update information and its data will
provide the government a clearer picture of India's population. It is
envisaged that central, state and private agencies will partner the
UIDA and will process UID applications, connect to the central
facility to "re-duplicate" resident resident information and issue
numbers.

The UID chief informed the Council that he had held parleys with home
minister P Chidambaram, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla and
RBI Governor D Subbarao to source data from their organisations.

Interestingly, residents below 16 years of age will also have
biometric details of their parents. The system will be developed in a
way, which automatically converts their UID numbers independent of
their parents once they become majors.

* Unique ID number will not be proof of citizenship, but will verify
identity. It will help clean up delivery of social sector services and
subsidies.

* It will help verify IDs for accessing loans, verifying documents.
The numbers will help do away with duplication and fake person
information.

* It will not be a card but a random number which will link to data
base which will store biometric information like fingerprints. It will
have a photo too.

* UID authority may not use Election Commission data as it is not
fully verifiable. But it will partner central and state agencies to
collect and process data.

*Tech systems will have a major role across the UID structure. Data
will be stored in a central server and authentication of residents
will be online.