Indians may get their identity numbers earlier than expected The National Population Register is aiming to collect data by August 2011……….Surabhi Agarwal
Indians may get their unique identity (UID) numbers earlier than expected.
The National Population Register (NPR) is aiming to collect biometric data of the countrys entire populationon which the UID project, known as Aadhaar, is basedby August 2011.
The NPR will start collecting biometrics from September, said R.S. Sharma, director general of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the projects nodal agency. If they finish it in a year, we can allocate unique numbers sooner than envisaged.
Pronab Sen, the chief statistician of India, said the NPRs target of collecting biometric data in a year is realistic.
Its quite possible. They have 2.5 million people on the job and have taken an additional five months this time to collate the data due to the NPR, Sen said.
UIDAI had earlier announced it will issue the numbers on UID cards to some 600 million Indians by 2014. The first set of numbers are to be allocated between August-February 2011.
The registrar general of India, which is creating the NPR as part of the decennial census, has an agreement with Aadhaar to source biometric data such as facial recognition features, fingerprints and eye scans from across the country. The data will be shared by Aadhaar and the census.
Canvassing and house-listing for the census began in April. It will cover all 29 states and union territories in a phased manner.
For each state, the exercise is targeted to be completed within 45 days, to be followed by biometric and photography visits required for publication of the NPR, a home ministry official said.
The NPR has already collected biographical details of nearly 11.5 million Indians and the biometrics of around 6 million people in the coastal areas, another ministry official said. Both requested anonymity.
The NPR for coastal areas will be completed in the remaining two states of Maharashtra and West Bengal by June 2010, the second official said.
The cabinet allocated Rs3,539.24 crore in March for creating the NPR.
Sharma said once the biometrics are collected, UIDAI will only have to process the date and make sure there is no duplication before allotting the UID numbers.
The most uphill task of this entire project is getting the data (both biometric and demographic) of the entire country, he said.
Once UIDAI has access to that data, the processing will not take much time, said another UIDAI official, who declined to be named.
The official added the current capacity of the UID servers to process the data is in line with the announced target600 million numbers in four years. However, the capacity can be scaled up easily to match the supply.
Sahil Makkar contributed to this story.