The Indian National ID Card Project

[Vipul]

UIDAI-Plan panel in a fresh row.

Row between Nandan Nilekani led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Planning Commission is not over with the former expressing its displeasure over allocation for the next financial year.

The Plan Panel had earlier objected to UIDAI’s move to collect biometric details of entire population saying it would lead to duplication of work as Home Ministry’s National Population Register (NPR) had a similar mandate.

The issue was resolved after a Cabinet Committee on UIDAI decided to split biometric collection of residents between the authority and NPR. After the Cabinet decision, plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia had claimed that both the organizations --- UIDAI and NPR --- will work together to implement the decision.

The UIDAI has now charged the plan panel of putting a financial barrier to meet the target of enrolling additional 40 crore people by June next year.

The root of the dispute was the Plan Panel’s decision to allocate just Rs 1,750 crore to UIDAI for the financial year 2012-13. The authority had sought Rs 3,250 crore to ensure that it would be able to enroll a million people every day.

In a recent communiqué to the panel, the UIDAI had argued that the Cabinet Committee this January had approved an additional Rs 5,791 crore for the UIDAI project up to March 2017 and therefore, it should get adequate money to implement the project.

The UIDAI says the project is of vital importance to India as the government plans to replace indirect fuel and food subsidy with direct cash transfer to unique identification or Aadhaar number linked bank account of beneficiaries. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to announce a scheme in this regard in the budget.

The plan panel is, however, not willing to buy the argument and had stuck with its initial allocation of Rs 1,750 crore. It says, if required, the unique identification authority can seek additional funding during supplementary grants decided in the winter session of Parliament.

The project aimed at providing an Aadhaar number to each resident in India by June next year would cost Rs 8,814 to the government. Of this, an allocation of Rs 3,023 crore has already been made to UIDAI.

[vera_k]

Aadhaar card scam unearthed in Hyderabad

Data point here is part about where the card could be used to obtain a passport -

The uniqueness of Aadhaar card is inclusion of iris scan and fingerprint details in the card's micro chip. However, to include those without fingers and eyes, an option has been provided in the enrolment process, where it would be declared that the candidate does not have fingers or eyes. As Aadhaar card would not have these details printed on the card, it would become easy for the fake user to utilize the card to get essential identification documents like a passport.

Which essentially implies that the Aadhar card is also implementing a one-time amnesty scheme to regularise illegal immigrants.

[Pranay]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 159565.cms

The Centre has fast-tracked the process to make Aadhaar numbers integral to the delivery of services under its social and welfare schemes.

The move, aimed at ensuring efficient delivery of subsidies and checking pilferages, came after the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has already notched up an enrolment figure of about 20 crore.

The Authority is mandated to provide an Aadhaar number to all 1.2 billion Indian residents. The UIDAI has also successfully run a pilot on Aadhaar-based authentication service and transfer of funds to Aadhaar-based bank accounts.

The Planning Commission has directed all ministries and departments, including its own divisions, to ensure integration of Aadhaar in delivery of schemes.

The move will ensure the benefits of UPA flagship schemes like ICDS, MGNREGS, scholarships, PDS, old age pension and initiatives in the health sector worth around Rs two lakh crore in the current budget reach the beneficiaries.

For implementation of Aadhaar, the state governments are required to set up a single database of all beneficiaries and then link it with an Aadhaar number. As many state governments have expressed inability to set up the data base citing financial constraints, the Authority has offered help to integrate the existing database of beneficiaries into one as a way out.

The circular sets the ball rolling for making Aadhaar applicable to all government schemes by end of next year. All Indian residents are expected to get Aadhaar by middle of 2013.

[Manu]

An anecdote, if you will.

In our house in India, my Father, Mother, Guards (X2), Maid and Drivers (X2) all applied at the same time for the UID card (July 2011). Went to the same center and stood in the same line.

My wife and I did the same 3 months later on trip to Desh.

The domestics received their UID cards in 3 months Flat (post Diwali 2011). They had very sketchy documents to back up their residency claims.

I got mine last week (May 2012) (Pan Number and Land line Bill in my name as proof). My Mother Father and wife still waiting.

Most people do not accept it as an identity card and it clearly says "proof of residency, not of citizenship".

What purpose is this ultimately going to serve? It is not even helping as a proof to get a new prepaid mobile phone number in Delhi.

[vera_k]

Coriander s/o Pulao

[vera_k]

^How can they obtain a passport using the card? Aadhaar is not a valid document for RPOs. Plus, even if they connected the systems, would the RPO staff not verify that the applicant does indeed have fingers and eyes? Remember biometric capture is a part of RPO process as well.

Aadhaar ID now for passports too

Since non-citizens can get Aadhar card, I believe the stage is being set for electoral fraud in coming elections. Once a non-citizen obtains a passport, they would be able to vote in elections as well.

[Sachin]

Since non-citizens can get Aadhar card, I believe the stage is being set for electoral fraud in coming elections. Once a non-citizen obtains a passport, they would be able to vote in elections as well.

Things may be even worse. I guess this is the clarion call for the Jehadis and other terrorists to get an Aadhar card, and use it to get an Indian Passport. And then they can literally 'blast-away'. The blame would be then on India, and become an embarrassment. Other countries like Pakistan, which has a label of "Exporter of Terrorists" can let a huge sigh of relief.

[Arunkumar]

^In welfare schemes, folks will not be able to use their finger/iris for more than one beneficiary account. Pilferage will reduce if implemented correctly, wouldn't you say? Think of the plan implementation in Governmental/Babu years, not human years. A delay of 6 months would be nothing in this context, if it saves even a measly 10K cr each year.

Babu years Liked the term. Time required for file to travel from one table to adjacent table.

[Pranay]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 884033.cms

Submitting photocopies of identity and address proof for opening a bank account, buying insurance or getting a mobile connection could soon be a thing of the past. Instead, it would all be there at your finger tips.

The Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) is ready with electronic know-your-customer authentication (eKYC) service which will pave the way to provide identity and address proof by just providing your fingerprints for biometric identification.

Officials said the facility of a one-touch eKYC could start as early as next month after government and other agencies, such as Reserve Bank of India (RBI), notify the new norms that explicitly provide for Aadhaar as a valid identity proof.

So, when a bank asks for your ID proof to open an account, all you will have to do is tap on a device that reads fingerprints and the information will be transmitted electronically in an encrypted form. The front desk will receive a message saying that the information has been received and has matched with the data available, explained an official.

[nawabs]

Headlines Today exposes UID fraud in Delhi

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/head ... 70400.html

The unique identification (UID) number was supposed to be the most secure identity card for Indian citizens. However, a Headlines Today special investigation has revealed that security is being compromised in issuing the UID cards.

The authorities concerned have not been verifying the identity and residence proofs of the UID card seekers. Ironically, Delhi's MPs and MLAs have been handing out the necessary documents for the UID blindly.

Headlines Today special investigation team found that the identity proofs were being handed out without any verification at West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra's residence.

Headlines Today's undercover reporter was asked for his address only verbally and it was put on Mishra's printed letterhead. No one bothered to check if the address was genuine.

The letter was stamped and Mishra's signature forged by the person issuing it. The letter was enough for Headlines Today's undercover reporter to get his UID made.

It is standard procedure that if someone does not have a valid residence or identity proof, he or she can get it from the local registrar. However, local MPs and MLAs have been compromising national security by issuing identity proofs without any checks to woo the voters.

Scene at MLA Jaikishan's residence
Headlines Today visited the residence of MLA from Delhi's Sultanpur constitution -- Jaikishan -- and found a long queue of people waiting to get their forms signed. Shockingly, the printed forms on Jaikishan's letterheads were being sold for Rs.2 each by a vendor.

However, the twist was yet to come. The MLA was not even present at his residence when the forms were being signed. His staff were seen signing forms on behalf of the MLA and putting stamps without even asking the credentials of the applicant.

[SwamyG]

A very shaky Aadhaar: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/02/24/a ... 49542.html

In my own case I never got to hand in my registration form that morning because the centre closed before I could, so I went back the next day and to my surprise found the centre closed. When I asked why it was closed, two women officials said that the next date for accepting forms would be on Sunday at 10 am. Nobody explained why and so ended my fourth visit to this Aadhaar centre without having been able to take the first step towards getting my unique identification number. If my own experience is anything to go by, it could take another two decades to register a billion Indians and by then people will have stopped wondering what the purpose of the scheme was in the first place.

[SSridhar]

I am convinced that Indians can and will defeat any system through their dishonest attitude.

[RamaY]

SSji,

The rot started when people of some communities complained that they do not have ration cards or any other identification documents. So it was recommended that they can get a signed affidavit from local MLA or gazetted officer or something like that.

Thus we created a scenario where real IDs are issued based on fake IDs.

I proposed a better approach a long time ago. Unfortunately the Neelekanis of this world are stupider than some random Internet-warriors....

[Sachin]

So it was recommended that they can get a signed affidavit from local MLA or gazetted officer or something like that.

If I remember it right, this was the case especially with Bangaldeshi illegal immigrants (who naturally are from "a specific communty"). The MLAs would give affidavit to any one, provided the vote comes to him. And if I am not mistaken the Passport authorities clearly said that this Aadhar-Vaadhar card would not be a proof for Passport applications. Passports would be issued in the current fashion, with a mandatory police verification.

[vera_k]

UID not must to register vehicles

Petitioner had argued that UID cards are unconstitutional and have no legal sanctity as the National Identification Authority of India Bill-2010 is pending in Parliament.

[Vipul]

UIDAI unveils three online identity authentication services.

The authority has launched three Aadhaar-enabled services including e-KYC, OTP (one time pin) authentication and Iris authentication.Nandan Nilekani. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Friday unveiled three new Aadhaar-enabled services which would help residents to authenticate their identity anytime and anywhere through a digital platform.

Besides the authority also announced establishment of (around 300) permanent enrolment centres (Aadhaar Kendras). The number of these Aadhaar Kendras would be scaled up to 1,000 by September this year."The centres will facilitate enrolment of residents left out during the camps organised by registrars in the past and also facilitate biometric and demographic update," UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani said.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who was also present on the occasion, said there could be leakage ranging between 20 to 40% in the present system of delivery of benefits under various schemes and said that these services would help plugging them.

The authority has launched three Aadhaar-enabled services including e-KYC, OTP (one time pin) authentication and Iris authentication.

The e-KYC service will enable individuals to authorise service providers to receive electronic copy of their proof of identity and address.The e-KYC service can be deployed by different agencies to verify a resident's identity and address. Only demographic information (Name, Address, Date of Birth, Gender, Photograph & Mobile Number) that is collected during Aadhaar enrolment will be shared, at the request of, and/or with the consent of the Aadhaar number holder.However the information will be available only for few seconds to the service provider to avoid any misuse.

The OTP service enables Aadhaar based authentication of all residents using their mobile telephone anytime, anywhere on a self service mode without having to use biometric authentication device.The third service will enable residents to authenticate identity for availing Aadhaar-enabled services by providing a combination of Aadhaar number and Iris image.Under the OTP and iris authentication, the authority's digital platform would not share the demographic details and respond in yes or no to authenticate the identity of the resident.

[krishnan]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 755706.cms

BANGALORE: Two weeks ago, Max Schireson, chief executive of MongoDB, a New York-based technology startup, was in New Delhi to sew up a very important contract for his company — with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The contract is yet to be announced but what could raise eyebrows is the fact that MongoDB is part-funded by the US' Central Intelligence Agency.

The company is expected to help in capturing and analysing data related to the ambitious plan to ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/art ... aign=cppst

[Singha]

one wouldnt be worried about such things...when snowden papers themselves reveal we seem to have allowed NSA a data capture center in delhi itself!

[Neshant]

Haha what a joke.

No wonder Microsoft and now even shell companies funded by the CIA itself are jumping in on the National ID espionage bandwagon.

Might as well hand over the entire database of Indians to the CIA.

[krishnan]

if this is not required to open bank accounts and is not even necessary why are they issuing it ??? it sure is a good money making opertunity , a friend i known does the data capture , and earns around 10-15 lakhs every 2 months

[vera_k]

Since this id is not limited to citizens only, it should be expanded to all people visiting India. Every visa applicant should be processed and issued this id. Checks at immigration points will then be able to say if the person presenting himself for entry is the same as the one who got the visa, and record if the person departed the country timely on exit.

[chaanakya]

Good idea though not necessarily National ID but all visitors should be processed through Biometric ( and that included even exempted persons) system and tracked by giving Unique ID.

[Tanaji]

I find it amazing no one has yet done a cost to benefit analysis on this project, or at least not one I am aware of. Nilekani is on record saying it is not UIADIs responsibility to verify nationality, which despite my resevations on this project is a fair point. So, the only use of this ID is to replace multiple Ids and to reduce pilferage. The former is not going to happen: IT dept has already said it wont get rid of PAN or use only National Id, so its the latter.

Should be simple to see if reduced pilferage cost recoups the cost of the project. But cynical moi says that there is more money to be made in contracts etc...

[Neshant]

What's astounding is that its launch has already been mismanaged.

Truly, Indians are very poor at management & organization.

[prahaar]

What's astounding is that its launch has already been mismanaged.

Truly, Indians are very poor at management & organization.

That is a pretty rich statement to make, whatever happened to qualification of remarks.

[Neshant]

Its something I've noticed through the years.

I believe it is due to a lack of attention to detail.

Projects are managed with only a general idea of where things should be headed. The result is that important parts of the project end up in chaos - as you can see above.

[krishnan]

as per someone who is part of the data capturing, swathy smart cards the main company has stopped accepting data

[Neshant]

has this bungled national ID program been scrapped
or is it still going.

[Neshant]

Trump calls for mass deportations. This Indian state is already weeding out undocumented Muslims.

HATIMURIA, India — Eight years ago, a dozen families showed up at this quiet farming village, saying floodwaters had washed away their homes.

They spoke with a different accent, and the villagers wondered if they might be illegal Muslim immigrants who had crossed the porous border from neighboring Bangladesh. Illegal immigration has been a contentious issue in this northeastern state of Assam for over three decades.

Yet “we pitied them and gave them refuge,” said Lavanya Bisaya, the 56-year-old mother of the village headman.

But as the newcomers’ numbers swelled to 200 families, tensions began to mount, until finally villagers were protesting and chanting, “Liberate our land, remove outsiders!” echoing a debate raging across Assam.

As Donald Trump has pledged to throw out up to 3 million undocumented immigrants from the United States, this remote Indian state of 31 million is in the midst of an effort of its own to identify and “weed out” some of the more than 20 million illegal immigrants from Bangladesh living in India.


Officials launched a laborious effort to certify the Bangladeshi population in India two years ago, but the drive that has been infused with new vigor and cash since the governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won state elections in April.

“The Hindu rate of population growth is declining. But the Muslim rate is rising. Most of the Muslims here are from Bangladesh. If this continues, the Assamese Hindus will become a minority soon; we will lose our language, our culture, our identity,” said Himanta Biswa Sarma, finance minister in the Assam government.

Fears that terrorist groups with global backing from neighboring Bangladesh would cross over the border to radicalize local youths have also galvanized the effort, officials say.

“Our detect-delete-deport campaign is even more important because now Islamic extremist groups from Bangladesh are also sending their people to India along with the immigrants on this route,” said Samujjal Bhattacharya, a longtime activist.

Muslim-majority Bangladesh fought for independence from Pakistan and became an independent nation in 1971. Assam’s border with Bangladesh stretches for about 160 miles, 40 percent of it through wetlands, making it relatively easy for poor Bangladeshis looking for work in India to cross over. Anger over their presence in India dates to the 1980s, when the state endured six years of anti-immigration agitation that spawned armed guerrilla groups.

As public rhetoric against the immigrants has soared, activists fear that declaring hundreds of thousands of people here illegally may whip up anti-Muslim sentiment and leave India with a humanitarian crisis because there is no treaty to deport them.

Detecting the illegal immigrants is not easy, either, officials say, because many of them have mingled with local populations over time, obtained forged documents, bought land and even voted.

In the past two years, officials digitized the handwritten census data of 1951 and the voter list of 1971 and created a legacy database.

People lined up to submit over 60 million documents related to birth, land ownership and education to prove they were citizens.

But many applicants have lied and declared false connections to citizens picked out from the legacy data, officials say.

For example, 31 people have claimed to be the children of the same father. Another group of applicants have claimed the same woman as their mother — if it were true, she would have been giving birth to a new child every month.

To combat fraud, officials are now poring over family trees of two generations of each applicant to corroborate information about parents and siblings.

“The family tree corroboration is my real weapon against fraud. There is a lot of public anxiety around this exercise,” said Prateek Hajela, who heads the National Register of Citizens. “This project is like a river of fire and we have to swim in it.”

The exercise is estimated to cost $138 million and several deadlines have already been missed.

Meanwhile, people are growing impatient.

In the past year, Hatimuria village became a mini-battleground of locals versus immigrants — with street fights and tense night patrols.

Tensions worsened last month when the villagers erected a bamboo fence to block the passage of newcomers to a squatters’ settlement, and filed a police complaint. When the authorities did not act, the women locked up the police station and staged a two day sit-in.

Bowing to public pressure, the police arrived days later with an elephant and a bulldozer and mowed down the squatters’ shelters.

“There are so many of them spread all over the state; we are anxiously waiting for the government to finish its paperwork and uproot them,” said Phukan Chandra Medhi, the village elder.

But the evicted families have resettled in another vacant plot of land near the river not too far away. They say they have papers to prove they are legal.

“These days, the public mood is very negative. You have an argument with somebody on the street and they call you a Bangladeshi,” said Noor Jamal Ali, a 30-year-old tailor.

“My father was born here. How many times do I need to shout that I am a citizen?” asked Mohibul Islam Badshah, a schoolteacher.

Even though the immigrant population also includes some Hindus who entered India from Bangladesh, the sentiment against immigrants has morphed into rhetoric against Muslims, who make up about 34 percent of the state’s population.

“If indeed there are illegal immigrants, send them back. But don’t stamp the Bangladeshi tag on all Muslims so loosely,” said Aminul Islam, general secretary of the All India United Democratic Front, a political party that represents many Muslim voters.

Crossing into India is not very difficult, security officials say. It takes a few hours by boat, and there are many middlemen along the border who help find safe routes, often with the connivance of corrupt officers.

“As soon as they arrive, their priority is to enter their names into the voter list somehow. They forge all kinds of documents and pay bribes for this,” said Upamanyu Hazarika, a Supreme Court lawyer and convener of Forum Against Infiltration. His group mobilized the women in Hatimuria against the squatters.


Many of those who have been caught up in the citizenship drive who cannot prove their lineage are now languishing in detention centers.

“It is no coincidence that most people declared foreigners by the tribunals are extremely poor and illiterate, and cannot access competent lawyers,” said Aman Wadud, who provides free legal aid to “doubtful” voters.

On the day the police came to Hatimuria to evict the squatters, Bisaya and other women climbed the rocks and watched the scene from a distance.

“As a human being I felt sad seeing them run here and there, holding on to their children and things as their tin houses were crushed,” Bisaya recalled. “But we have been tolerant for too long. They stole our goats, lemons and bicycles. Tomorrow they would have stolen our jobs and land, too.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as ... story.html