5 FEB, 2011, 12.24AM IST,ET BUREAU
NEW DELHI: More than 1 billion Indians will get their unique identification numbers from the ubiquitous post office. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), responsible for creating and distributing first of its kind unique identification numbers to Indian residents, signed an agreement with department of posts to this effect on Friday.
UIDAI will leverage a network of over 1.5 lakh post offices for registration, distribution and delivery of Aadhar, a 12-digit unique number linked to the resident's demographic and biometric information enabling access to various public schemes and benefits.
Former Infosys chief executive officer and UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani said the partnership was strategic since post offices would ensure that Aadhar and accompanying identification authentication services reach to all Indian citizens. The department's ongoing technology upgradation would help people to track and confirm receipts, he added.
To be used in India for the first time as an identification document, Aadhar is also aimed at checking fraudulant disbursement of government subsidies and poverty alleviation programmes apart from rigging in elections since no two numbers would be same.
"We have an opportunity to use post offices for inclusive growth through this partnership. If we understand the road ahead, the post offices will be the centre for empowering people," Information Technology and Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Over the next few days, UIDAI will begin the process of finalising an enrolment agency to set up and manage infrastructure of this gigantic project, authority's director general and mission director R S Sharma said. The agency will collect people's fingerprints and retina scans in more than 3,700 post offices across the country identified to be enrollment centers.
The postal department signed its first agreement with the UIDAI on April 30 last year to print and post letters carrying the unique identification numbers. The department's print-to-post facility at Kolkata is expected to print and dispatch about 1 crore UID letters up to March 31, 2011 and about 12 crore UID letters during 2011-12.
UIDAI will leverage a network of over 1.5 lakh post offices for registration, distribution and delivery of Aadhar, a 12-digit unique number linked to the resident's demographic and biometric information enabling access to various public schemes and benefits.
Former Infosys chief executive officer and UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani said the partnership was strategic since post offices would ensure that Aadhar and accompanying identification authentication services reach to all Indian citizens. The department's ongoing technology upgradation would help people to track and confirm receipts, he added.
To be used in India for the first time as an identification document, Aadhar is also aimed at checking fraudulant disbursement of government subsidies and poverty alleviation programmes apart from rigging in elections since no two numbers would be same.
"We have an opportunity to use post offices for inclusive growth through this partnership. If we understand the road ahead, the post offices will be the centre for empowering people," Information Technology and Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said.
Over the next few days, UIDAI will begin the process of finalising an enrolment agency to set up and manage infrastructure of this gigantic project, authority's director general and mission director R S Sharma said. The agency will collect people's fingerprints and retina scans in more than 3,700 post offices across the country identified to be enrollment centers.
The postal department signed its first agreement with the UIDAI on April 30 last year to print and post letters carrying the unique identification numbers. The department's print-to-post facility at Kolkata is expected to print and dispatch about 1 crore UID letters up to March 31, 2011 and about 12 crore UID letters during 2011-12.
