We had commented on Friday about the Union government going in for a compromise on the dispute involving the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and the Home Ministry, over the collection of biometric data of residents in the country. Under this arrangement, the work is to be split between the UIDAI project and the Home Ministry's National Population Register (NPR) project.
However, the revelation of some more details makes us think that this arrangement is less of a compromise, and more a case of the government going out of its way to accommodate the UID project, led by top-flight entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani, who was specially roped in by the prime minister for the work. The project has now been allocated Rs8,814 crores to cover another 40 crore people.
While the government claims that there will only be small duplication of work under this arrangement, it is significant that people in the UIDAI states will have to line up again to register for the NPR project. Since enrolment in UIDAI is optional, as against compulsory registration for the NPR project, the process is bound to get cumbersome and cost more.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the original plan, wherein the NPR was mandated to cover biometric data all over the country, with the UIDAI limiting itself to issuing them UID numbers was a sound one. More so, since the NPR employs a more rigorous procedure in identifying individuals, than is the case with the UIDAI.
The only thing which works in favour of the UIDAI is the greater efficiency it has displayed. But surely greater foresight on part of the Union government would have ensured that one composite scheme handled the work efficiently.
This might also have saved us thousands of crores of public money.
However, the revelation of some more details makes us think that this arrangement is less of a compromise, and more a case of the government going out of its way to accommodate the UID project, led by top-flight entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani, who was specially roped in by the prime minister for the work. The project has now been allocated Rs8,814 crores to cover another 40 crore people.
While the government claims that there will only be small duplication of work under this arrangement, it is significant that people in the UIDAI states will have to line up again to register for the NPR project. Since enrolment in UIDAI is optional, as against compulsory registration for the NPR project, the process is bound to get cumbersome and cost more.
It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the original plan, wherein the NPR was mandated to cover biometric data all over the country, with the UIDAI limiting itself to issuing them UID numbers was a sound one. More so, since the NPR employs a more rigorous procedure in identifying individuals, than is the case with the UIDAI.
The only thing which works in favour of the UIDAI is the greater efficiency it has displayed. But surely greater foresight on part of the Union government would have ensured that one composite scheme handled the work efficiently.
This might also have saved us thousands of crores of public money.
