UID to be rolled out in August: Nilekani

BANGALORE: The much-awaited Unique Identification Number scheme is likely to roll out pilot projects by August 2010, Nandan Nilekani said after receiving the Citizen Extraordinaire Award 2010 on Saturday. The award function was organized by Prestige Group in association with Rotary Bangalore, Midtown.

Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nilekani said his link with Bangalore dates back to his birth at the Vani Vilas Hospital and early education at Bishop Cotton School.

“Nearly 75 million people in the country are still homeless and don’t have an address. This is why they lose out on a host of benefits . Identity has created a barrier . At the same time, migration is increasing,” he added.

Nilekani said more and more money is being spent on public welfare. He cited projects like the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, on which Rs 39,000 crore has been spent, and the right to education on which Rs 1.71 lakh is being spent. The right to food, which is about to be implemented, also involves crores. “As India develops, social programmes targeted at individuals will increase. We need a robust way of identifying individuals who are genuinely poor and not getting any benefits,” he said.

The first part of the UID project involves enrolling everyone at stations where people can give thumb impressions, get their iris scanned and photograph taken. In the next 5 years, around 600 million people are likely to be covered.



“A foundation of soft infrastructure is important. In the 60s and 70s, the slogan was rotikapda-maakan . Later, it became bijili-sadak-paani . Now, it has become UID, mobile phones and bank accounts. This project has a lot of socio-economic implications ,” Nilekani added.

Prestige Group MD Irfan Razack said: “If being Bangalored is an international buzzword today, Nilekani is among those responsible for it. From pensioner’s paradise , he has transformed this city to the epicentre of information technology revolution.”