New Delhi: Chairman of Unique Identification
Authority of India Nandan Nilekani on Wednesday said residents of
Delhi may get their identification numbers within next three
years as the city government has extended full cooperation to
the newly created body.
Nilekani, who resigned from IT major Infosys to take up
the ambitious government project, said this after meeting
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at her office where he
also gave a presentation on all aspects of the project.
The high-profile IT expert expressed his keenness to make
use of a database prepared by the Mission Convergence of the
city government.
It was informed by Dikshit that the database of nine lakh
households and 42 lakh people is very comprehensive as it was
prepared based on detailed biometric information of the
residents.
Nilekani, co-founder of the Infosys, appreciated efforts
of the city government in preparation of such a useful
database.
He said that with utilisation of this database, the UIA
would be in a position to issue unique ID numbers to the
residents of Delhi within three years of time. Dikshit assured
all possible cooperation of the government in making the
project successful in the city.
Nilekani said unique identification numbers will be
issued to all residents of the country including infants and
students.
Noting that issuing unique identification numbers to the
residents will overcome problem of duplicate and bogus
identity, he said it will also be helpful in implementation of
flagship schemes of the Union and State governments.
It will be a useful source for online verification and
authentication, he said.
Describing the project as a challenging assignment, he
said his team was determined to accomplish the task given to
them with help from all quarters.
A separate presentation on Delhi State Spatial Data
Infrastructure was also made by the city government.
The government had earlier appointed Nilekani as the
chairman of the authority with a cabinet rank and allocated Rs
120 crore for the ambitious project in the current fiscal.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, September 02, 2009, 22:46