[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-122

[Taha Mehmood]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/PoliticsNation/Unique-national-I-cards-in-3-years-/articleshow/4619224.cms

Unique national I-cards in 3 years
5 Jun 2009, 0552 hrs IST, ET Bureau

 Each Indian citizen will have a unique national identity card in the
next three years. Announcing this in her address to the joint session
of
Parliament, President Pratibha Patil said the implementation of the
Unique Identity Card Scheme — which would facilitate identification
both for security purposes and for availing of development programmes
— would be overseen by an Empowered Group.

Union home minister P Chidambaram had, soon after taking over late
last month, announced the issue of multi-purpose identity cards to all
residents in 2011, starting with the citizens in border and coastal
areas. “The national population register will be ready by 2011 and the
multi-purpose national identity cards will be issued to all residents
in 2011,” he informed mediapersons.

The work, Mr Chidambaram added, had already started in coastal areas
as well as Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
A pilot project for issue of identity cards has been undertaken in
select districts across 12 states and Union territories.

The proposed identity card is a smart card having a microprocessor
chip. This is a secure card for which recommendation was made by the
government-constituted technical committee comprising representatives
from National Informatics Centre, IIT Kanpur, Bharat Electronics
Limited, Indian Telephone Industries Limited, Electronics Corporation
of India Limited and Intelligence Bureau.

The identity smart cards are being issued to citizens of 18 years and
more under the pilot project. They are expected to arrest both the
entry of terrorist elements from other countries as well as illegal
immigration from Bangladesh.