The National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010

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I will be covering the recently introduced National Identification Authority Bill 2010 .This bill has been introduced to establish Unique Identity Authority as statutory body/board which at present is presided by Nandan Nilekani. They have put up draft legislation at their website while seeking suggestion from various stakeholders and general public. I have decided to pursue it as general course of discussion for this blog. Hence I welcome comments from our viewers. The blog will regularly feature posts dealing with various aspects of this bill. Here is a brief introductory note and copy of the Bill.

The National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010

The Project Aadhar which has been earlier known as Unique ID Project (UID) project has been established by the Government of India under the leadership of Mr Nandan Nilekani and a body known as UID Authority of India (UIDAI) was formed. The UID project envisages creation of a Unique Identification Number for every resident of India.  Once the project is rolled out, each individual will have one unique identification number that will identify him/her. This will not just help the government track down individuals as is highlighted by the media, but will make life far easier for citizens as they will not have to submit so many documents each time they want to avail a new service private or government.

For the first time India is opting the Universal Identifier for an efficacious allocation of resources and UID project is its primary example. The objective behind this discussion is to analyze the draft legislation which establishes National Identification Authority as a statutory body while preparing the normative guidelines for assigning unique identity numbers to each individuals. The NIA or National Identification Authority will be an independent agency which will not only monitor the working of the project but will also enact policies which will influence the objective behind the functions of Unique Identity Numbers. The legislation tries to address key concerns regarding privacy, Institutional authority and legitimacy as these issues were presumed to undermine the achievements through this project. This discussion is an attempt to verify any such claims of addressing key issues before this draft legislation is ordained as law by the legislature.

Project Aadhar has been an initiative through which every individual who applies to avail the services will be assigned a unique number for guarantying a distinct identity to each individual. The approach of identifying each individual remains a crucial aspect to be further analyzed through this discussion. While adopting Universal Identifier as the backbone for today’s technologically driven governance, the state should be in a position to counter the risk associated with this approach.  With a common identifier having all the necessary information, the state bears the responsibility to protect those information’s. Certain fundamental values like Individual’s privacy, liberty etc seeks to verify the integrity of this approach on various occasions. The state’s approach should not nullify the purpose or objective behind the adoption of this concept to be implemented through Aadhar Project

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  • http://ll2b.blogspot.com Kris Dev

    In 2006, I initiated the process of Unique Biometric Identification and tracking of beneficiaries of Work-for-Food Programme / Flood Relief in rural Andhra Pradesh. I was recognized with the Manthan Award for this grass-root initiative. In 2007, Govt. of Bihar invited me to do a Proof of Concept for e-Muster. This has turned into the e-Sakthi project covering 25 million beneficiaries of NREGS.

    I advocate a Random Unique Encrypted Number (25 characters), linked to the biometrics (fingerprints, iris, retina, facial, palmvein, DNA) and not known to anyone including the holder except the system at the back-end with complete details of the individual. The usage of the UID shall be through a Biometric Smart Card (BSC) for each holder, without any name, photo, etc. on the Card. Every transaction should be track-able through the card and must be transparent. No one should be above law and if currency is demonetized and banned, then the BSC can be a Debit Card through a Bank. UID should be managed with multiple security similar to Bank Locker and by an independent citizen body like ICANN. This will ensure citizen privacy and rights without infringing on other’s rights. There can be no corruption of any sort under such an arrangement. No money laundering, terrorism, etc.