Unique ID Authority to ensure identity scheme implementation

The government has earmarked Rs100 crore in the interim budget to kickstart the UID project

New Delhi, feb 25 : The Unique Identification Authority of India will formulate plans and policies to implement ambitious UID project in the country aimed at assigning a unique identification number to each citizen, the government said today.

“Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) shall have the responsibility to lay down plans and policies to implement Unique Identification (UID) scheme, shall own and operate UID database...,” Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy said in a reply in the Lok Sabha.

The Authority has been notified on 28 January as an attached office under the aegis of Planning Commission with an initial core team of 115 officials and staff, he said adding that a governance structure to manage the UID system is in the process of establishment and that the state governments would be active partners in its activity.

The government has earmarked Rs100 crore in the interim budget to kickstart the UID project. “A provision of Rs100 crore has been made in the annual plan 2009-10 for this,” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said.

UID aims at eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanism prevalent across various government departments.

The project will be helpful in better monitoring and targeting of social benefits and employment programmes and identifying synergies among various ID initiatives prevalent in the country, Narayanasamy added.