Tussle on identity data over; UIDAI, NPR to work together

The tussle between the Planning Commission and the Home Ministry over security concerns of the Unique Identification Number project was today resolved with the government extending the mandate for UIDAI to collect bio-metric data of additional 40 crore residents.

The data collected will be used to issue chip-based smart cards in the country through the National Population Register (NPR) project.

Under the formula, worked out at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on UIDAI, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Nandan Nilekani-led authority will collect data of 60 crore residents in 16 states and Union Territories. It has already been mandated to cover 20 crore people.

The bio-metric data for remaining population of over 60 crore will be covered under the Home Ministry's NPR project.

Using the bio-metric data collected by both the agencies,  a chip-based smart card will be issued to all residents by the Registrar General of India (RGI), which is the implementing authority for the NPR project.

"We hope to complete the whole country by June 2013...every resident will have bio-metric and Aadhaar number," Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the meeting in the presence of Nilekani and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

In case of "discrepancies between UIDAI data and NPR data, NPR will prevail," Chidambaram said, adding the new system is "as secure as humanly possible."     

"Aadhaar (issued by UIDAI) is voluntary and NPR is mandatory...It is a government programme," he said, pointing out that there would be negligible duplication of efforts as NPR would be using the data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

The Cabinet committee has cleared Rs5,791 crore more for the UIDAI after its chief Nilekani assured that the security concerns raised by the Home Ministry would be addressed.

The total cost of the UIDAI project, under which 17 crore residents are enrolled, is Rs8,814.75 crore of which the government had approved Rs3,023.01 crore. It is expected to complete enrolment of 20 crore residents by March-end.

"We will review the security concerns in the next six to eight weeks and begin the process of collection of data from April," Nilekani told reporters.

On duplication of efforts, Chidambaram said, "most avoidable duplication and avoidable costs have been avoided" as residents who had been issued "Aadhaar" number would not have to give their bio-metrics again for the NPR.

However, he added, "in a country of 1.2 billion people, small overlap is unavoidable."

The chip-based Multipurpose National Identity Card issued by the NPR, he said, will capture 15 details of every individual where as the UIDAI collects five fields.

The government, Chidambaram said, will come out with a bill to give statutory backing to the NPR for which data was being collected by the RGI.

Ahluwalia said, "I am very happy that the Cabinet has given a clear resolution. The UIDAI programme will now go ahead and the NPR is also going ahead.

"All these concerns that there is an overlap and duplication have been satisfactorily addressed. Both projects will proceed together and support each other," he added.

Later in a statement, the government said, "detailed protocols will be worked out by Inter Ministerial Co-ordination Committee (IMCC) already constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs so as to smoothly implement this simultaneous effort."

The financial proposal relating to Aadhaar enrolments of additional 40 crore will be separately placed before the Expenditure Finance Committee.

Pending this approval, the statement said, UIDAI will be allowed to continue Aadhaar enrolment beyond 20 crore so that the momentum of the field formations is not lost and appropriate provisions would be made in the budget for 2012-13.