Mahendra Kumar Singh, TNN Jan 28, 2012, 04.09AM IST
NEW DELHI: All 1.2 billion residents of the country should have unique identity numbers by June, 2013, the Union Cabinet decided on Friday seeking to cap a fractious internal debate on which agency should record and store biometric data.
The Cabinet plumped for a complete rollout of the ambitious scheme, aiming to plug loopholes in welfare programmes where identifying beneficiaries and checking leakages is a major challenge.
The government is keen to complete the UID registrations before the next general election. Under the compromise arrived at between the conflicting claims of the home ministry on the one side and the Planning Commission and UID Authority on the other, it has been decided that both the Registrar General and the Authority will split the collection of biometric data. RGI functions under the home ministry.
The cabinet committee on UIDAI headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ironed out differences between home minister P Chidambram and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and paved the way for UID authority receiving the mandate to enroll residents beyond the 200 million mark.
Now, UIDAI will seek to enroll a total of 600 million residents in 16 states and Union Territories where it is already at work. The remaining 600 million will be recorded by RGI as part of the National Population Register (NPR). Now, the two bodies will share the information.
In response to the home ministry's concerns, UIDAI has been asked to review its data collection process to address security issues. Chidambaram and the duo - Ahluwalia and IT czar-turned-Authority chief Nandan Nilekani - had differed on proprietorship of the data, with RGI reversing its earlier decision to accept UID data citing concerns over verification protocols. The turf war seems settled, with a middle path being worked out by the PM.
"The NPR will continue to capture biometric data, but if a person says he or she has taken an Aadhar (UID) number, no biometric details will be captured again by the NPR. So there will be no duplication in capturing biometrics," Chidambram said at a presser in the presence of both Nilekani and Ahluwalia.
Arguing that getting Aadhar numbers is voluntary while NPR is mandatory exercise, he said those left out under UID enrollment can get the number after registering with the population register.
The home minister said the decision will speed up both UID and NPR processes and the entire country will be covered by June, 2013.
Considering security issues flagged by home ministry, Nilekani said the Authority will do a complete review of its strategy over the next six to eight weeks. "We will start covering the additional 400 million people only from April," he said.
The cabinet committee approved an additional expenditure of Rs 5,791 crore for the project under which around 170 million enrolments have been completed by the Authority. As on January 20, 190 million Aadhaar numbers have been generated.
UID project is primarily aimed at ensuring inclusive growth by providing a form of identity to those who do not have any identity. "It seeks to provide UID numbers to the marginalized sections of society and strengthen equity," Nilekani added.