Should India go ahead with the UID Project?
The Unique Identification Authority of India, or the UIDAI, is an agency of the Government of India responsible for implementing the envisioned Multipurpose National Identity Card or Unique Identification card (UID Card) project in India
The authority aims at providing a unique number to all Indians. The authority would provide a database of residents containing very simple data in biometrics. Nandan Nilekani, a former co-chairman of Infosys Technologies, was appointed as the first Chairman of the authority in June 2009.
#-Link-Snipped-#A similar project was under development in UK with the name National ID Program (NID). Recently, the scrapping of this project by the new government in the UK was not unexpected. Many people, organizations and even some politicians were questioning the viability of the NID project. According to a BBC report, the NID scheme was aimed at tackling fraud, illegal immigration and identity theftâbut it was criticized for being too expensive and an infringement of civil liberties.
Whatâs more is that the UK government has referred to higher costs, impracticality and ungovernable breaches of privacy as reasons for cancellation of the NID project.
While according to UIDAI, the first UID numbers will be issued from August 2010. Over five years, the Authority plans to issue 600 million UIDs. The numbers will be issued through various âregistrarâ agencies across the country, UIDAI said on its website.
The NID was launched in July 2002 and as of February 2010, its total costs rose to an estimate of £4.5 billion.
Indian Government should think over the UK Governmentâs reasons behind abandoning the project and take appropriate decisions regarding persisting with the UIDAI.