UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION PROJECT : UID

1. We all know how the launch of PAN Cards and Voter ID Cards in the initial period say about 7-8 years or may be slimly earlier created discombobulation amongst the aam janta. Photos clicked, Data base created and then all got inter amalgamated and I got somebody else's pan card with a different pic and altogether different address with the age of my grandfather endorsed in BOLD.The thing and the vision seems to have ameliorated today.

2. Now on top of this Sarkaar plans to make a Unique Identity Card.Since the sarkaar never wanted to take a chance this time ,the onus of the culmination of the project has been given to INFOSYS and the over all coordinator is none other then Mr Nandan Nilekani,the co chairman of infosys.

3. The UID (Unique Identity) project is one of the most aspirational projects of the UPA government. The UID programme will provide an identity card to every citizen to establish citizenship and address security concerns.

4. The identity cards purported will be smart cards which will carry information of each and every individual, his/her finger biometrics as well as a photograph. A unique National Identity Number will be assigned to each individual including those below 18 years of age.

5. The government will spend around $6 billion on developing smart cards apart from a gigantic citizen database. Karnataka has reportedly been chosen as the pilot state to carry out the project.

6. The broad idea is to get all the births, deaths, marriages, passport data, bank account data, ration card data into one database. This will help all these offices to just tap into the central database as and when required and update their accounts.

7. In year 2000, Tata Consultancy Service was assigned with the task of studying the feasibility of this project. It came up with the report which said that the government would have to earmark around Rs 10,000 crore in three to four years, to implement it.The project would also require completely new software, capable of handling detailed information on at least one billion data entries.

8. This proposal that took almost a decade to become a project. And now the government is reportedly looking at a three-year term to complete the entire programme. I am slightly positive about this deadline being met as the project is in the hands of INFOSYS.

9. Info from http://infotech.indiatimes.com and http://www.ciol.com