Bill Gates keen to partner ID card project

M icrosoft, the world's largest software company, is keen to partner India in a

project to issue unique identification to each citizen, its chairman Bill Gates said
on Friday.
"Microsoft wants to be part of the Unique Identification Database Authority of India
(UIDAI) project," he said at a joint event with the National Association of Software
and Services Companies (Nasscom).
Gates will meet UIDAI chairman Nandan M Nilekani, who was till recently co-
chairman of the country's second largest software exporter, to take the possible
association forward.

Image: Microsoft founder Bill Gates at a symposium on Research and Innovation

- The Keys to India's Future in New Delhi.
Photographs: Fayaz Kabli/Reuters

Nilekani had only on Thursday assumed charge of UIDAI and expressed

confidence that his team would be able to roll out the first set of identity numbers
within 12-18 months.
The project would serve as an enabling infrastructure for other identification
schemes and will conform to different applications.
The UIDAI would not be issuing any biometric cards by itself, but the database
created by it would help government agencies undertake that task.

Image: Nandan M Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Technologies and head of the

Unique Identification Database Authority of India.
Photographs: Jagadeesh Nv/Reuters

The UID number would help government in identifying targeted beneficiaries for
various welfare scheme and departments, based on their needs, could use the
number.
The main aim of the UID, according to Nilekani, was to avert the need for multiple
proof of identity for citizens while availing any government service, or for private
needs like opening bank accounts or seeking telephone connections.

Image: A woman holds her voter's identity card at a polling booth in Bangalore.
Photographs: Arko Datta/Reuters
What ID card boss Nilekani plans to do

The first set of unique identification numbers will be issued to the citizens
within 12-18 months, high-profile IT expert Nandan Nilekani said soon
after taking over as the head of the newly-created Unique Identification
Database Authority of India (IDAI) on Thursday.

"In the next 12 to 18 months we will be issuing the first set of unique
identification numbers," he told reporters at his new office in Yojana
Bhawan.

These numbers, he added, will not only provide an identity to citizens and
will also help them in obtaining benefits of government scheme and also
undertake with ease other activities like opening bank accounts and
availing electricity connection.

"It is difficult to open a bank account. It is difficult to get an electricity

connection. We hope if we can give every one an identity, basically the
number, and that number is authenticated throughout the country . . . he
can use it wherever he goes," Nilekani said.

The IT icon further said that he would set up a team, picking up best available talent from government as
well as private sector, to prepare the database for every resident.

The government had earlier appointed Nilekani the chairman of the authority with a cabinet rank and
allocated Rs 120 crore for the ambitious project in the current fiscal.

Nilekani, who was appointed as head of UIDAI on July 13, said it will take few weeks for them to "get the
team together."

"We will use biometrics. . . but we still have not decided what that set will be. It will take us few weeks to
stabilise and figure out the team size. It will take us few weeks to get our thoughts together," he
added. Read on. . .

Image: Nandan M Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Technologies and head of the Unique Identification
Database Authority of India.
Photographs: B Mathur/Reuters

Nilekani's ambitious mission

Nandan Nilekani is on an ambitious mission. It's a gargantuan task to identify

and provide unique identification numbers to close to 1.2 billion people. And
Nilekani, who is apprised of this staggering exercise, recently told a newspaper: "It
keeps me awake at night, thinking what the hell have I got into."
In his new avatar, Nilekani -- as the head of the Unique Identification Database
Authority of India -- says he will make sure every Indian has an identity card or a
unique identity number. The number is quite like America's social security number.
He hopes to make a difference in the life of every Indian.
The UIDAI would create a centralised, national database of Indian residents. The
key issue was to ensure that there were no duplicates, Nilekani said.
Image: A voter shows her voter identity card as she waits to cast her ballot in Bikaner, Rajasthan.
Photographs: Vinay Joshi/Reuters

Big challenge

"The big problem today with identity is that many systems have lot of duplicates
which lead to fraud," Nilekani said.
The key issue was to ensure that there were no duplicates, Nilekani said soon
after he was appointed as head of the ambitious project.
Nilekani plans to a national database of names, modeled on India's electronic
securities depository, and use biometrics to ensure that every Indian an
identification number.
The idea is to use biometric, fingerprints or whatever to make sure that people
have a unique number. The UIDAI would then create a national network of
verification so that people can verify that somebody is who he claims he is," he
said.
The chairperson of UIDAI holds the rank and status of a Cabinet minister.
As for what his priorities would be with regard to the ambitious UID project that
would create a 'national verification process', he said: "Give me more time. Wait till
August 15."

Image: A man has his fingerprint scanned at a household registration office in Taipei to build a national fingerprint
database by joining a global trend for biometric identity cards.
Photographs: Richard Chung/Reuters

Benefits of the card

Nilekani said the UIDAI would also create a national network of verification so
that a person's identity could be proved.
The identity card will help every citizen to establish his/her citizenship and address
security concerns.
The card can thus wipe out illegal migrants from neighbouring countries, who
pose a threat to national security.
The cards can also reduce identity-related frauds and preventing loopholes in
different government schemes, making sure the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families get their due.
A single unique identification number would eliminate the need for multiple identification mechanisms in India, making
it foolproof.
However, this number will not be a substitute for other existing numbers, but will act as an additional unique number,
cited along with existing numbers for different purposes, it has been learnt.

Image: A homeless Indian boy waits for food beside a pavement as his mother cooks rice in Kolkata.
Photographs: Jayanta Shaw/Reuters

Deadline for cards

 The government plans to issue the first batch of ID cards in 12 to 18 months.
"Even if it costs a bit of money, if a few hundred million poor people get better
public services, it's worth its weight in gold," Nilekani said.
The Unique Identification Database Authority of India will lay down the plan and
policies to implement the UID, own and operate a database and be responsible
for its updation.
The Unique Identification Database Authority of India is being established under
the aegis of the Planning Commission.

Image: A stopwatch pin.

Photographs: Reuters

How to tap data

Nandan Nilekani plans to tap the massive database of oil and cooking gas
consumers that covers nearly half of India's population.
PAN card holders and the Election Commission's list of voters and census figures
would also be considered for the database.
Currently, there are more than 10 crore (100 million) LPG customers enrolled with
the oil marketing companies, which cover 50 per cent of the population of the
country.
Nilekani said the oil sector's database of consumers was a 'huge attraction and
resource towards accomplishing the task in his hand'.
The ministry officials also underlined that synchronisation of the data,
standardisation of the biometric information and the technology will go a long way in serving the purpose of the
authority and the oil sector.
"The identification of the customers will help in better targeting the subsidised products like LPG (domestic) and PDS
kerosene," the oil ministry statement added.
The oil ministry will soon launch a pilot project in Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and a few villages for issuing smart
cards to the consumers of PDS (public distribution system) kerosene and domestic LPG.
"The experience of the pilot project would be shared with the Authority as also utilise the expertise of the personnel
with the Unique ID Authority in further expansion of the programme," the ministry stated.

Image: Liquefied petroleum gas, or cooking gas, cylinders.

Photographs: K K Arora/Reuters
The pilot project

In 2008, the government implemented a pilot project for a multi-purpose national

identity card (MNIC) in 12 states and one Union Territory where more than 1.2
million identity cards were issued to people above 18 years of age.
The MNIC project was initiated under the Vajpayee-led NDA government and
continued by the current United Progressive Alliance government under Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh.
The rising problem of illegal immigrants led to the development of such cards.
The UID will be issued to people living in the coastal villages of Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and
West Bengal.
The Union Territories of Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and
Andaman & Nicobar Islands shall will be covered in this first phase.
The project is based on computer application called SCOSTA.

Image: A man swipes a smart card.

Photographs: Rick Wilking/Reuters

The huge expense

The government has earmarked Rs 120 crore (Rs 1.20 billion) to start the UID
project, the biggest citizen database project. That is the amount that Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee said would be given for the project while giving his
Budget speech in Parliament on July 6.
According to industry estimates, the project is estimated to be worth worth at least
Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion).

Image: The new gargantuan exercise will cost a lot of money.

Photographs: Tim Wimborne/Reuters

IT majors eye ID project

Analysts said the identity card project could cost anywhere between $2
billion (Rs 9,722 crore) and $10 billion (Rs 48, 610 crore).

IT majors are eyeing this big project. Infosys Technologies, Tata

Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Spanco, Bartronics,
Gemini Traze and NXP Semiconductors.

Are in the race to bid for the ambitious unique identification card project.

"We do bid for e-governance projects and continue to bid. We will bid for this project too," Infosys chief
executive and managing director S Gopalakrishnan said.

Image: S Ramadorai (right), CEO, Tata Consultancy Services speaks to N Chandrasekaran, CEO-
designate.
Photographs: S Ramadorai (right), CEO, Tata Consultancy Services speaks to N Chandrasekaran,
CEO-designate.

Dream team

Nilekani said Ram Sewak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer,
will take over as Secretary and CEO of the organisation.
Nilekani had handpicked Ram Sevak Sharma. Sharma, who is from the
Jharkhand Cadre of the 1978 batch, has the rank of an Additional Secretary.
Apart from Sharma, Nilekani hopes to rope in some top IT talent to create his
dream team. A recent media report stated that Nilekani may hire about 40 top IT
professionals from the private sector to help implement this ambitious project.
While Nilekani would be able to find impressive IT talent, the limitations of the
government's payscales might be a major hurdle.

Image: Ram Sewak Sharma, the CEO of UIDAI.