Unique Identity first stage towards Citizenship Registry: Nilekani

Providing a unique identity number to every Indian resident was the "first stage" in the creation of a Citizenship Registry, Unique Identity (UID) Authority chairman Nandan Nilekani said today but called for enactment of privacy laws to ensure security of data.

Calling the process of issuing the identification number to 1.2 billion people as "massively complex," Nilekani told Members of Parliament here that the UID would be the "game changer" that would pave the way for financial inclusion of the poor and the marginalised sections of society.

"UID is the first stage," he said to a query from an MP on converting the project into a Citizenship Registry exercise.

"Once the national database with unique numbers for every resident is created, then we can think of other aspects of how to use this UID," he said.

"India lacks privacy laws and already our privacy is compromised in many ways. It is high time the Parliament considers a privacy legislation to ensure security of data," Nilekani added.

Delivering a lecture on 'The Unique Identification Project - Issues and Challenges' at the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, he said the UID would ensure even those who were "ghosts" with no documents to prove they existed would bag the benefits that the state wanted to provide them.

"Enroll only once and get an identity for life," he said.