7449 - Here's one more ID to you, in addition to Aadhaar or UID - dna India

Here's one more ID to you, in addition to Aadhaar or UID

Thursday, 26 February 2015 - 5:05am IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: dna | From the print edition

Manan Kumar

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The Modi government is mulling reviving the citizenship project under which every bona-fide national of the country will be enrolled as a citizen and given a national identity card (NIC) to distinguish him or her from the illegal immigrants.

The Modi government is mulling reviving the citizenship project under which every bona-fide national of the country will be enrolled as a citizen and given a national identity card (NIC) to distinguish him or her from the illegal immigrants.

Sources in the union home ministry said a fresh proposal to initiate enrollment of citizens has been sent to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) under which the citizenship drive will be launched in a phased manner by taking the vulnerable border districts and coastal areas.

Is it different from Aadhaar, UID?
Unlike Aadhaar or UID (unique identity number) which is meant for targeted benefit transfer schemes and is not a legal instrument, national identity card (NIC) is mandated by an Act passed by the parliament and having much tighter scrutiny measures will be the main proof of citizenship of a person.

Will it be linked with Aadhaar?
"The PMO will take a call on when to start it and what would be the scope of the national identity card (NIC) and if it would be linked in any way with the Aadhaar number or would be a separate card. Once it gets the nod, the vast government machinery under district magistrates will start undertaking the work under the guidance of the registrar general of India (RGI)," sources said.

Citizenship: On whom the onus?
The process of enrolling citizenship will involve preparation of national register of Indian citizens (NRIC) right from the taluk level through tight scrutiny where the onus of proving the citizenship would lie on the person. Those who clear the scrutiny and meet the criteria will be enrolled as citizens and be handed over the national identity card (NIC).

Whose concept was NIC?
The move is a logical extension of the key amendments that the BJP led NDA government had brought in the Citizenship Act and Rules in 2003 following Kargil committee report but could not pursue it beyond once it was replaced by the Congress led UPA government in 2004 for next 10 years.

Did Mumbai attacks give it a push?
The citizenship became a burning issue again in 2008 following Mumbai terror attacks by 10 Pakistan trained LeT terrorists resulting in partial go ahead given by the UPA government to carry out resident identity card (RIC) drive in vulnerable coastal areas. But it failed to go beyond a few districts that covers only a minuscule population of a few million fishermen.

Was it aimed at B'desh migrants?
The core of the amendments brought in 2003 were to mark the illegal migrants that have come in huge numbers mainly from Bangladesh and settled as Indians across the country by managing to get fake ration cards and even voter identity cards.

What does the Citizenship Act say?
Section 14A of the Citizenship Act 2003 makes registration of every citizen of India and issuance of national identity cards to him or her compulsory. It also puts the onus on the central government to maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and for that purposes establishment of a National Registration Authority.

7268 - Are you a citizen or resident of India? - Business Standard

Are you a citizen or resident of India?

Union government neglected to provide certification or a national identity card in accordance with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003

Sahil Makkar  |  New Delhi  January 19, 2015 Last Updated at 00:10 IST

One of the secretaries in the Union government grew agitated when it was pointed out to him that though he might be holding an Indian passport, an Aadhaar number and a voter identity card, it did not necessarily mean he was a citizen of India.

Shocked, the secretary wondered how. It was explained to him that none of these documents validates him as an Indian citizen, according to the existing laws, and the onus was on him to prove his citizenship before the state.

This is because the Union government neglected to provide certification or a national identity card in accordance with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, with its genesis in the Citizenship Act, 1955. A citizen is eligible for all entitlements, including voting rights, whereas a resident can be a foreign national.

The latest law says a person can be a citizen of India by birth, naturalisation, descent, incorporation of territory and through the government's special grants, provided he or she meets certain specifications. For instance, those born after December 3, 2004, can claim citizenship by birth only if both parents are Indian citizens or one of them is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant. Those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, have to prove that either parent was an Indian citizen at the time of his or her birth. The restriction does not apply to those born on or after January 26, 1950, and before July 1, 1987.

But people born between January 26, 1950, and July 1, 1987, need to produce any of the 19 documents, including birth certificate, radio licence issued in the 1970s, land records, matriculation certification and death certificate, to have their names registered in the National Register of Indian Citizens. The 2003 law says the Registrar General of India (RGI) must create this citizens' register and issue a national identity card to citizens after verifying their documents and antecedents. Only the RGI's office can provide certification for citizenship.

"Even people in the highest echelons of society and the bureaucracy have not proved their citizenship to the right authority. The law makes it compulsory for everyone to enroll for the National Register of Indian Citizens," said a senior government official.

"It is also true that the voting right is only given to a citizen but in India, the Election Commission could not verify through a robust mechanism whether someone is an Indian citizen or a person from another country. Faking documents is very common in India and it is a Rs 1,000 crore industry in the border areas," the official added.

The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended following the recommendations of the K Subrahmanyam committee set up to look into security lapses that led to the Kargil war in 1999. The purpose of amending the law was to weed out illegal migrants and provide a credible individual identification system. It gave the RGI the authority to develop a mechanism through which each citizenship claim was verified.

As a follow-up to the Act, the government took up a pilot project in 2003-07 in the border and coastal areas and found 98 per cent of residents were citizens of the country by birth. But the citizenship scheme remained in cold storage till the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed over 166 people. After that, the government was quick to launch an exercise to create the National Population Register (NPR) for all residents, a precursor to the citizen register . The NPR has been created and digitised.

The next logical step is to visit each household and obtain documents from residents about their birth claims. These documents will be cross-checked against data collected during the census and NPR process.

The officials say a proposal worth Rs 5,500 crore is pending for months at the Prime Minister Office (PMO) for creating the citizens' register and issuance of national identity card. After the PMO's nod, it will be presented to Cabinet for a final approval.

"It will take another three years to finish the entire exercise and issue the national identity cards," said the official quoted above.

Many believe the government is reluctant to give citizenship clearance due to political reasons. Many parties depend on migrant votes, but it will be almost impossible for an illegal migrant to obtain a fake voter identity card and vote during the elections
.

2007 - UID does not mean grant of citizenship: Project Coordinator, Sikkim - iSikkim.com

Posted 23rd November 2011

Sikkim Mail

Silash Tamang
Gangtok: November 23, 2011

The Unique Identification (UID) Numbers or Aadhaar has been considered as important for all the people of India for improving delivery of schemes of development and welfare and also for financial resources through banking and security perspectives.

While talking to Sikkim Mail, T Geleg, Project Coordinator UID, Department of Economics Statistics Monitoring and Evaluation (DESME), Government of Sikkim said that, it is important for the people of Sikkim to enroll themselves on UID programme and not to follow rumors. UID is carried in the country to create
accountability, traceability of all identity based schemes, he added.

When asked the project coordinator that many people in the rural areas are of the opinion that it is not mandatory and important to opt for UID number, he replied that the programme is of the government of India, and the state government has deemed it expedient to recognize Aadhaar or UID number based on identity system services offered by the state government.

Gelek informed that the programme is under the chairmanship of Nandan Nikekani, also a co-founder of Infosys. In order to access services and facilities of the state government, departments, state public sectors undertaking, grant-in-aid the Aadhaar system has been implemented in the state. A person has to go to a enrolment station for the photo, demographic details and address where the identity of an individual is captured. The identity will again go to the central database where unduplicated 12 digits number is generated. And this number is foundation for identifying the individual as called Aadhaar. The number provided by the central database will be based on two principles, one is de-duplication, and another is
authentication.

Furthermore, he added that in the world no individual has same biometrics like fingerprints and iris so based on this there is no duplication which gives rise to unique identity. The department has a vision statement and that is to augment the vision of government of Sikkim and to elevate Sikkim from model state to a
superlative state. It is a revolutionary concept by the government, he added.

‘It is the efforts of everyone to strive for better’, he said. When the question of better comes it includes governance, political stability, peace, law and order and most importantly the common man has to avail services.

Clearing the rumor about citizenship he informed that UID does not come in conflict with citizenship, as it is specified clearly that UID does not mean grant of citizenship. ‘ an individual having a 12 digit UID number is not entitled to become the citizen of the country, but to avail facilities UID number is required’ he said.

This is a revolutionary process started by the government and will take time. As ‘Rome was not built in one day’, similarly the UID programme is in its initial phase and will take time.The department has also got a certificate of appreciation from the central government for the sound implementation of Aadhaar in the state.

Sikkim Mail