The UIN - Unique Identification Number World UIN homepage ^ | Christine Hobson
Posted on 15 November 2009 7:43:46 AM by Sharondownunderinnz
The UIN - Unique Identification Number
Finally, after a year of headlines we are beginning to see the clear picture at hand when it comes to Nandan Nilekani's vision for issuing every Indian a UIN, Unique Identification Number. At first glance it would have been thought is was nothing much, possibly a variation on the US's Social Security Number. At closer inspection however, you can see many layers that one would not have imagined. Nandan Nilekani co-founded Infosys, one of India's leading information technology companies, back in 1981. After serving as its president and then CEO, he's now joined the Indian government to help lead a massive new IT project: providing every Indian with a unique identity card. to concentrate on his next great endeavor: re-imagining India in the new millennium.
In recent weeks it has been revealed that Mr. Nilekani seeks to monetized the UIN as well as have it directly linked to ones biometrics, which would include all 10 fingerprints. Last week through the National Population Register (NPR) it was announced that the 2011 Census requirements of biometric fingerprints was to help target each person for various programs and schemes and link them directly to a system that would offer “real time population data”. This project also aims to give 1.2 billion citizens biometric identity cards that will have the ability to help millions of poor gain access to many services they otherwise would not be able to. Think about it, “To obtain the pension, the beneficiary has to implant his finger impression on a device with a business correspondent engaged by the bank and only if the impression matches with the one to whom a bio-metric card has been issued, then only the amount is released,” said SBI bank official.
Identification has always been a huge problem for India with many persons never identified from birth. Whole households with no means to identify themselves. This effects them on every level from the simple things like the purchase of a cell phone to the more useful and important services as opening a bank account, seeking employment . In most cases an address cannot be verified either because the poor live in slums or on the streets and have nothing to provide to prove who or where they are from. "This project is pro-poor and inclusive targeted mainly towards the poor. The middle class and the rich have some form of identity. People on the margins are getting lost because of lack of identity," Mr Nilekani said.
Mr. Nilekani's intention is to provide access to all persons state benefits that before only had available to those with means. Money. The whole idea is to include everyone into the System. Meaning everyone. This does not verify ones citizenship, but residency. This number will be issued from cradle to grave with no possibly of duplication. Hence for added measure the inclusion of biometrics. It has been said that India's efforts at giving every citizen an identity number is possibly one of the greatest challenges facing the government. What could this mean? Universal Financial Inclusion in India. Bank access, health insurance for all.
Nilekani is not alone in this venture, in fact he has some pretty impressive partners that seek their piece of the pie. IBM for one, and none other then Bill Gates of Microsoft. In August IBM began dialogue with partners in India to position itself in the project and shortly before Mr. Gates met with Nandan Nilekani to ensure his part in this monumental scheme. "The World Bank has offered to assist the government in re-structuring the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Delhi government is set to soon initiate a pilot project to launch its ‘cash for food’ program in the Capital. This is seen as the first step in overhauling the system." It would seem absolutely nothing should go wrong, with a Dream Team such as this put together.
In India in another three to four years, you will be known not by name, but by a unique identity (UID) number. Will this set a precedent for the rest of the world in the near future? Or have we already seen similar projects in other countries that could strip our identity and we become nothing more then a bit of information assimilated into a system. I know I have my opinion. Hopefully as this information begins to sink in, you will begin to see a bigger picture.