UID to tell if you’re who you claim to be

The unique identification project of the Union government is perhaps its most ambitious and is likely to have a far reaching and profound impact across all sections.  Yet, few of us actually know anything about the project. So, when chairman of the UID authority of India Nandan Nilekani spoke for almost 60 minutes at a stretch on Tuesday morning about the project, the audience was undeniably captivated.

"UID is not a card; it is only a unique number for every resident of the country. The purpose of UID is mainly to verify whether a person is the one he is claiming to be. Having a UID does not give a him/her any rights or privileges. It is a simple method for agencies to know your resident (KYR)," Nilekani said.

"All the processes to further check on his credit history, or any other verifications will not be included in the UID project. They will be called KYR+," "he  Nilekani was addressing an audience of more than a thousand businessmen and students of the city, as part of the Lincoln Lecture Series organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

"The verification will be done online through a biometric identification system, which will be put in place over the next few years," he said. The task is mammoth and Nilekani admits as much.

"The last project of this kind was to create UID for 20 million; for India, the scale is 1.2 billion. The goal is to start issuing the first UIDs in 18 months and reach out to 600 million people in 5.5 years," the technocrat turned politician said.

The  key purpose of the project, Nilekani highlighted, is the power of inclusiveness. It will improve all sections of the country.