UID and NPR may be given go ahead by PM even with some overlap

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday stepped in to reconcile differences between the home ministry and the Planning Commission over collection of biometrics for the UID and the National Population Register ( NPR) projects.

After the meeting, there were clear indication that the two schemes will be given the go ahead even with some overlap.

Mr Singh, who held a meeting with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, home minister P Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani and NSA Shivshankar Menon, directed the Planning Commission to prepare a revised note for the Cabinet on how to avoid duplication in the two schemes.

Sources said a slight overlap may be unavoidable between NPR and UID projects. "I think that there is agreement that both the projects can move ahead and ways can be found that will avoid avoidable duplication. That was the key issue," Ahluwalia said after the meeting.

The Cabinet committee on UID is now expected to meet on Friday to clear the proposal to extend the mandate of the Nandan Nilekani-led organisation to cover the entire 1.12 billion population of the country. "I think we have come to an agreement on how both the projects can proceed together without any difficulty," said Ahluwalia.