Aadhar to cost Rs 31 per Indian
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) here on Monday said the cost of enrolling the unique number to each citizen is estimated to be Rs 31. The authority and the National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) also announced UIDAI's new name – Aadhaar – and launched its new logo.
“This is just an estimated cost per enrolment as per our pilot projects going on in few states. We still have to work on it properly and the exact amount will be known only when we start the first phase between August 2010 and February 2011,” UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani told a media conference.
He said, currently, the authority is executing proof of concepts (PoCs) in three states – Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. These PoCs will enable certain systems to be tested before the concept is scaled up. It plans to complete field-testing on enrolment and biometric processes by mid July.
In reply to a question on how this amount would be reimbursed to the citizens, especially in the BPL segment, he said, “It is too early to comment on that as we would be working on that as well.” On the application side, there has been a consensus for a UID-enabled micropayments solution, that will enable the poor to access and use bank accounts at low cost and remote areas.
He said, till now, the UIDAI had utilised Rs 120 crore on the project from the sanctioned amount of Rs 1,900 crore by the finance minister in this year’s budget. Out of this total amount, around Rs 1,300 crore would be spent on registration procedures, he said.