Is the unique identification card project really viable?

Is the government of India’s ambitious Unique Identification (UID) Card project as robust as it pledges to be? Can it ride over the omnipresent hurdles posed by the country’s massive population and technological shortfalls? Some of these questions have been put forth in a working paper of by Prof Rajnish Dass of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). The project aims to provide a unique 12-digit number to 1.2 billion residents of India.
The paper titled ‘Unique Identity Card Project in India: A Divine Dream or a Miscalculated Heroism’ brings out the crucial point of need to consult stakeholder groups, to understand IT readiness and expectation gap for a project like this, and hold public debates since huge cost and effort are being put into the largest project in the world.

“A concrete execution plan of the project can be designed by clearly mapping the efforts and resources of the project with the intended benefits and presented to the people of the nation. In light of the perceived cost, feasible benefits and perceived risks, this should further be publicly debated in order to understand the readiness of the nation in taking such an initiative,” states the paper.

The paper suggests that in view of the huge implications in terms of cost and effort, it becomes mandatory to put forward a detailed cost-benefit report before the people. It is because the nation has to look into other priority areas prior to initiating and executing such a task.

Involvement of people or feedback about the significance of it is important, because if citizens do not find value in such cards or the government processes are not scaled up to match the working of such identification, the mammoth efforts and money spent on the project would be seriously questioned, says
the paper.

The paper points out four challenges before the project. The UID project has gathered criticism which is stated in the paper under four heads. First, the project would necessarily entail violation of privacy and civil liberties of the people.   

Second, it remains unclear whether biometric technology- the cornerstone of the project-is capable of the gigantic task of de-duplication. The Unique Identification Authority of India's (UIDAI) "Biometrics Standards Committee" has noted that retaining biometric efficiency for a database of more than one billion persons "has not been adequately analysed" and the problem of fingerprint quality in India "has not been studied in depth".

Third, no cost-benefit analysis or feasibility report for the project has been made till now. Finally, the purported benefits of the project in the social sector, such as in the Public Distribution System (PDS), are "largely illusive," says the paper.

The paper also says that outrageous costs, technology gaps, privacy issues, political challenges, and lack of clear vision and mapping of the perceived benefits that can be accrued out of such an exercise are some factors that hinder viable and sustainable implementation of a national identity programme. Talking about the limitations and risks involved in the massive scale programme, the paper says that the complexities of a unique identity scheme become multifold for a nation like India, with over 1.2 billion population spread across 32,87,263 sq km, more than 35.16 per cent being illiterate (2001 census) and speaking 22 different languages, and following various religions.