The Hindu Business Line : No clarity on unique ID

No other project of the Government has received such high-profile billing than the one for providing a single, universal identification number for every citizen. The glitz surrounding the unique identification number project is beyond comprehension, unless the simple fact of someone from the top echelon of the much acclaimed Infosys having been brought into the scheme of things is seen to deserve celebration.

Take, for instance, the constitution of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) itself. Different departments of Central and State Governments have in the past undertaken without fuss mammoth operations of issuing hundreds of millions of cards to voters, tax payers and heads of families (for purchasing rations) carrying their own numbers. The Census covers almost the entire population and goes into hundreds of parameters regarding the status of individuals and nature of households. The various authorities have been taking these activities in their stride in the years after Independence and delivering the goods without any problem.

But, suddenly, to help the chief of the UIDAI, Mr Nandan Nilekani, undertake a similar exercise on a similar scale and magnitude, a top-notch Council is set up presided over by the Prime Minister himself, no less, and comprising as many as 11 members, including the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and Ministers of the heavy-weight portfolios of Finance, Human Resources Development, Law and Justice, and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

The first meeting of the Council held on August 14 has been true to the style of all such inaugural functions – full of hype and hoopla – but at the end of it all it is not clear what precisely the purpose of spending all the time and energy is all about. However, piecing together such clues as are available from the Prime Minister’s address launching the Council and the press note issued on the occasion, the claims made for the project are: It would specifically improve delivery of the flagship schemes of the Centre; reduce harassment and denial of services to the poor; plug leakages in various government programmes; enhance the access of the poor to government services; will help eliminate fraud identities, resulting in savings of up to Rs 20,000 crore per year to the State exchequer.

Paragon of ideal governance

If even a part of the claims made is realised, India will be a paragon of ideal governance. But those familiar with the working of the government machinery should be forgiven if they are unable to make the quantum leap in the imagination that connects all these claims with the mere existence of not even a card but only a number which, we are told, “will not contain intelligence, as loading intelligence into identity numbers makes it susceptible to fraud and theft.” The first task before Mr Nilekani is to explain how all the laudable objectives are going to be achieved in actual practice. It is also learnt that the UIDAI will collect only basic information on the citizen, apparently not even coming up to the requirements of a voter identity or ration card, to serve as proof of identity to open a bank account, obtain a passport, driving licence and so on. One is made to wonder what extra proof of identity will UIDAI provide, when the existing cards for rations, voter identity and tax payment are already good enough for such purposes.

We are also told that the UIDAI will start issuing the numbers in 12-18 months and will cover 600 million people within four years from the start of the project. The Civil Supplies Departments and the Election Commission will make a far faster job of it than the UIDAI.

B. S. RAGHAVAN

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