UID card will come with a bank account
In what could give the government’s financial inclusion agenda a big boost, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) plans to set aside Rs 100 for every enrolment a vendor achieves towards opening a savings account with a bank. A similar amount will be provided to the vendor as fee.
Government sources said Budget 2010-11 would set aside Rs 1,900 crore towards the UID project. The UIDAI is expecting to rope in volunteers to execute this gigantic task of enrolling individuals. So far, about 600-700 volunteers have offered their services including tech-savvy professionals and non-governmental organisations.
“The finance minister is likely to announce major support for the UID programme in the Budget of Rs 1,900 crore against its current allocation of Rs 100 crore. The project will kick off next fiscal,” a source said. UIDAI is chaired by Infosys co-promoter Nandan Nilekani who has since quit the board of the IT major. It was formally constituted on January 28, 2009 and has been mandated to lay down policies to implement the scheme besides owning and operating the biometric UID database and update it on a continuous basis.