Nilekani needs your fingerprints

The Centre is about to launch a drive to gather fingerprints for the unique identification (UID) project. As opposed to a single thumb impression, imprints of all ten fingers will be taken for a national biometric database.

The data will be gathered through scanners kept at places where identification documents are required — places like banks and where one applies for a ration card, pan card, passport, driving license, and a gas or a mobile phone connection. Till now, ten-finger impressions were required only for property documents and a thumb impression for documents like the passport.

Biometric data through fingerprints is also being gathered through government programmes like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (Nrega) and the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY); through RSBY, data on 64 lakh families has been collected; the scheme will contribute data on 30 crore individuals.

The biometric database will be accessed by all offices requiring identification documents and also the National Authority for Unique Identity (NAUI). “Institutions like banks can use the biometric data to guard against forgeries and other malpractice, particularly in the case of bank accounts where people use different identities to open multiple accounts,” said a NAUI official.

“All these departments are going to be our partners. Initially, every pan card, driving license, etc, will have two numbers: its own code number and the UID. Slowly, the code number will be phased out and only the UID number will remain,” said Nandan Nilekani, chairman, NAUI.

Acknowledging that the data collection methodology may lead to duplication, NAUI officials said software will be used to cleanse the biometric database. —With inputs from Neeraj Thakur