The major setback faced by Indian government today is ensuring proper implementation of the welfare schemes. Results achieved are not commensurate with the amount spent on them. One of the biggest issues faced is the presence of "ghost accounts" i.e. welfare recipients who don't exist in person. This result in huge stolen benefits and the really needy get affected. This is highlighted by the fact that the NREGA wages received by the poor totalled just Rs12.7bn in FY07, as against Rs. 58.4bn actually spent on wages. Not only this, in the educational sector it is reported that in 2008 almost 48% students in Grade 5 cannot read Level 2 text (according to The Annual State of Education Report (ASER), 2009 by NGO Pratham). However, the greatest problem that faces India is corruption. According to Transparency International India was ranked 84 out of 180 countries in the list of most corrupt countries.
UID - An Introduction
To deal with the issues mentioned above Unique Identification Number (UID) is an initiative by government to resolve identity issue of its resident by providing a 12 digit number. It will be linked to the resident's demographic and biometric information (photograph, 10 finger prints and Iris) to get rid of any chance of duplicity. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), an agency of government of India was established in February 2009 to implement it successfully. The number can be verified in real-time across country in cost effective manner.
Objective
The major problem faced by the poor is in proving their identity; being able to do so with UID can help them in receiving benefits intended for them. Government will also be able to make better policies for the people. The major objectives of UID project are:
Providing an Identity infrastructure which is lacking in the country
Managing citizens who relocate or migrate from one place to another
Misuse by claiming benefits under multiple job cards
Elimination of Ghost Beneficiaries and identification of correct beneficiaries
To implement better policies for the welfare of people.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
UIDAI is a statutory body responsible for creating, administering and enforcing the policy. It prescribes the guidelines for biometric technology and various processes around the enrolment and verification procedures to enrol the various residents.
Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR)
A Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) was created to manage the central system and network of Registrars who will establish resident touch points through Enrolling Agencies. It functions as a Managed Service Provider to implement the core services around the UID. This Central Database will store resident records, issue unique identification numbers, verify, authenticate and amend resident data. It will hold only minimum information required to identify the resident and to ensure there are no duplicates.
Unique Identification Number (UID)
UID is a 12 digit random numeric which will be unique across all residents in India. The UID is a proof of identity and does not confer citizenship. The issue of UID number has no intelligence associated with it as it is not linked to the person's personal details like DOB or location of the person, etc. It is just a random number to safeguard from fraud and theft.
UID Agencies
The UIDAI will partner with a variety of agencies and service providers to enrol residents for UID numbers and verify their identity. It will sign Memorandum of Understandings' (MOU's) with individual Registrars to enable their on-boarding into the UID system. It will support Registrars in linking to the CIDR and add UID fields to their databases, thereby assisting the Registrars to make changes in their processes to be UID-ready. The Registrars and Agencies identified by the UIDAI include Central/State Governments agencies like Oil Ministry, LIC, and private sector participants like Banks and Insurance firms. The line departments of State Government, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RDPR) and hospital, schools/colleges, PDS will act as enrolling agencies along with outreach groups like NGO's ,civil society and community networks, NREGA etc.
Setting Standards on demographic data and biometrics
As India has vast population with various demographic differences, the UIDAI established two Committees to establish the standards (both demographic and biometric) for Data collection and Verification process. A Committee on Demographic Data Standards and Verification Procedures
under Mr.N. Vittal, former CVC, was formed to study the various demographic details that need to be collected from the residents for assigning Unique IDs to ensure integrity and correctness of the data.
Another Committee on Biometric Standards was formed under the Director General of NIC, Dr. BK Gairola to study the biometric standards which would act as a basic signature for de-duplication and to ensure uniqueness.
The aim of the committees was to collect minimum data possible, at the same time ensuring security to the residents and integrity. Based on the report submitted by these 2 Committees, the following data were planned to be collected from the residents.
Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Father's/Husband's/Guardian's name and UID (optional for adult residents)
Mother's/Wife's/Guardian's name and UID (optional for adult residents)
Introducer's name and UID (in case of lack of documents)
Address
All ten finger prints
Photograph
Both Iris scans
For verification, document-based, Introducer-based (in case of lack of documents) and community-based verification processes are recommended by the Committees.
UID Enrolment Process
The UIDAI made it clear that the enrolment in UID is not a mandatory process and will be demand driven. The data entry is done in English and could be converted to local language using Standard Transliteration software and verified. Once the verification is done, a final letter will be sent to the residents containing their UID number and demographic details in English as well as the local language of residents. The flowchart shown in picture (UID enrolment) describes the process. To ensure that the process is clean and safe, audits are planned to be conducted regularly either directly by the authority or through appointed agencies. These audits would be on a random sample of residents who were issued UID and it would focus on verification against scanned and physical documents, periodic check at the enrolment sites, of the processes and software.
Financing of UIDAI
The scheme is jointly run by the centre and the states. INR 30.92 crores was spent in year 2009-10 for UIDAI. Moreover INR 1,900 crores has been allocated in the budget for year 2010-11 for its expenses.
Implementation Status
Currently government has started first phase of issuing UID number to its residents. UIDAI is aiming to cover around 60 crores resident in first four years. The process started around July 2010. The first UID number was issued on September 29, 2010, to a tribal woman from Maharashtra. The picture (Enrolment Status (State-wise)) shows the current status of Aadhaar numbers issued in different states. As evident currently Karnataka has maximum number of Aadhaar numbers and by December 2011 UIDAI is expecting to issue number to all state residents. According to finance minister around 10 lakh Aadhaar number will be generated per day from October 2011.Apart from state governments SBI has largest enrolments done till now.
Benefits to Stakeholders
We can divide the stakeholders of the UIDAI in three major categories namely Residents, Registrars and Government. The residents can easily and effectively establish their identity, the poor can enter the banking system and mobility of identity is provided for migrants. The registrars including banks, NGO's can gain in improved efficiency, cost saving through lower KYC cost etc .The government can implement direct cash transfer programs, save money and resources through elimination of duplication
UID and Financial Inclusion
Presently in India, poor people are the most deprived of basic banking facilities. Only 20 Crore people have bank accounts and hold 60 crores bank accounts (Picture Financial Inclusion (Current-Status)). Technological limitation and income potential are major challenges for banks to provide account to poor people. Some banks have committed to financial inclusion by covering all villages with more than 2000 population. RBI has made it mandatory to provide no-frill accounts.
UID can be used in account opening process to identify the person. Also transactions can be made with the help of Business Correspondents (BC) authenticating person using UID number. The process is elaborately shown in appendix. The resident can make request through BC and interoperable switch will authenticate the person. Then money will be transferred from person's account to BC's account and in return BC provides instant cash to person. The BC will have micro-ATM to authenticate the person.
UID and the Public Distribution System
The Public Distribution System has been facing numerous problems since its inception. A major chunk of these can be addressed by the UID.
Beneficiary Identification
According to a Times of India report in 2008, there are almost 23 million ghost accounts in India. This is a major roadblock since it means that the benefits don't actually go to the intended section. With the help of a unique identity it can be assured that beneficiaries are correctly identified. Also there will be no elimination of any poor family and individual benefits rather than household benefits can be provided.
Prevention of Diversion and Leakages
With correct beneficiary identification diversion of benefits as well as leakages can be prevented. This is because it will be easy to monitor if the benefits are actually getting delivered to the intended participant.
Food distribution and timely storage
This can be assured with the measures like online registration of farmers, electronic order management, tracking of grain off take and SMS alerts.
Effective accountability and monitoring and Faster Grievance Addressing
UID will also help in bringing about greater accountability in the system. This will be due to the increased transparency in the system. It will be easier to ensure that both the distributor and the beneficiary do not indulge in unfair means. Also, it will be possible to resolve grievances faster and effectively because of high visibility and individual recognition made possible by UID.
UID and NREGA
NREGA is mechanism by which government of India ensures at least 100 days of employment to the poor. This has however encountered several roadblocks which can be solved with the help of UID. They are-
Payment of Wages
With UID it will be possible to open bank accounts easily because of easy verification. As a result the money provided by the government can be made available to the beneficiary directly without any intermediaries. Also, accurate identification of the beneficiary is guaranteed.
Theft from beneficiaries
UID will enable establish a payment tracking system through which timely delivery of cash can be ensured. Also, consistency between hours worked and payment can be taken care of. This will help beneficiaries get their due and prevent any theft from them.
Theft from taxpayers
UID will make sure that the reports given by officials are not framed. They can be held accountable for their reports. It will also be possible to take swift action against theft. Other benefits of UID in NREGA include - elimination of ghost beneficiariesis use by claiming benefits under multiple job cards, managing citizens who relocate or migrate from one place to another.
UID and Education
The Right to Education states that every child of the age of 6 to14 years shall have the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till the completion of elementary education. UID can help fulfil this.UID makes it possible to track the education of a student throughout, monitor the drop-out rates which is a significant problem in elementary education, preventing leakages of facilities like mid-day meals, books, scholarships, provision of uniforms and bicycles
UID and Health Care
The health care sector is another area where government spends a lot without much effectiveness. UID enables focussed services delivery by rural and urban healthcare systems at district and sub-district levels, easy tracking of health conditions, inform the public health system of the prevalence of various routine disease conditions and help prepare the health system to respond to unforeseen epidemics
Arguments against UID
There have been discussions, criticism on UID by various social activists and professionals and some of them were addressed by UID in Economic and political weekly magazine. UIADI is criticized that the team is focusing on giving rhetorical comments rather than answering real concerns and a unquestioned benign-ness attributed to the project as Nandan Nilekani in involved in it. UID team seems to be trying to push through projects with PR and stealth without much public debate. It has been argued that feasibility studies, cost-benefit analysis associated with UID has not been done and unrealistic expectations about UID are propagated among people. The major issues regarding the UID projects are
Privacy
The information held in central repository could be leaked, misused by authorities. All information related to a person can be easily tracked and therefore a serious threat to the privacy rights of Indian residents. This is in context of weak regulation that is generally attributed to government.
Convergence:
Aadhar/UID number will act as link between various silos of information given by public to various authorities/banks/services allowing profiling/segmenting of people. This may be good for business but destroys privacy, is intrusive and make people insecure and unsafe.
Surveillance
Based on the Home Minister's comments regarding networking of databases to detect patterns, tracking sources of money which could be illegal, it is argued that because of UID people will be under constant radar of Intelligence Agencies like RAW, Intelligence Bureau (IB) and others. Also these organizations are outside of RTI. This could enable government to harass people and atrocities against minorities like fake encounters in the name of Security and some governments has been alleged communal.
NATGRID and National Population Register
The information collected during the census will feed information to UID database. If both these information is converged then profiling of any Indian resident can be done. Collecting data through NPR will force people to divulge information whereas UID is supposed to be voluntary. All this allows executive control of people by state and its agents.
Biometrics
The technical feasibility of correctly identifying a person by biometrics is questioned. The technology is not 100% accurate and not proved for its efficacy. Poor and weak sections of society who are supposed to be main beneficiaries of UID pose greater risk. Most of the agricultural, manufacturing and other laborers who do hard labour have their hands worn-out and finger prints obtained of them would be of poor quality. Also IRIS scan is ineffective with people having cataract operations, corneal scars and blindness. This could result in rightful people denied services and related problems to citizens
Lack of legal framework and regulations related to UID
The regulations, laws and legal framework to protect the interests of people have not been set up which makes the UID project a sources of threat and intrusion into people lives by government, businesses and others
Addressing the concerns
Mr. D. P. Sinha of UIDAI has addressed most of the issues raised by people. He stressed that enough consultations and debate has been done on UID and errors, issues will be solved while implementation. He argued that Convergence is possible even today without UID and enough procedures have been laid out to protect the privacy and interests of people. Legal framework and other procedures for personal data protection are being carried out to differentiate between benign convergence which is helpful to the beneficiary and illegitimate convergence. Profiling would be not possible as no data regarding caste, income, religion, tribe, language and others are collected.
Regarding Tracking and surveillance, he argued that there is no connection with NATGRID/NPR. Intrusion is not supported and no disclosure of information is done to anyone except under national security, that too with proper checks and balances.
UIDAI is a statutory authority answerable to parliament and judiciary and hence any malpractices can be questioned and rectified. Identity review committee will make annual recommendation on UID to Central government and necessary actions would be taken. A Grievance redressal mechanism is being set up. Clarifying biometric related problems, he mentioned that when different kind of biometrics are combined more than 99% accuracy achieved and hence technically UID is viable.
Group's Stand on UID project
Initiatives such and Aadhaar (UID) are always met with anxieties and resistance. It is a bold Initiative by Government - entrepreneurial approach - risky but in a positive direction. Any existing loopholes should be gradually be taken care during implementation. Clear laws and legal framework are to be put in place.UID project necessarily need not mean privacy loss across the board. However it does not automatically signal empowerment. It only offers a different platform to change.
The risks involved are
Adoption risks - need for reaching critical mass
Political risks - support from various government institutions
Enrolment risks
Scale and Technology
Privacy and security
Sustainability
Overall the benefits provided by UID far exceed its limitations and the risks involved above must be minimized by taking necessary measures and legal frameworks. We are positive in the statement given by Nandan that the three numbers - UID number, Bank account number and Mobile number -would define the people of India and can be used by people to lever their aspirations.
References
A Unique Identity Bill by Usha Ramanathan
Reimagining Citizenship: Debating India's Unique Identification Scheme by Ravi Shukla
Identity and the UIDAI: A Response by R S Sharma
Justifying the UIDAI: A Case of PR over Substance? By Ruchi Gupta
Sovereign State and Mobile Subjects: Politics of the UIDAI by Anant Maringanti
Discussion Paper on Aadhaar based Financial Inclusion
Envisioning a role for Aadhaar in the Public Distribution System (Working Paper - version 1
6/24/2010) by Unique Identification Authority of India, Planning Commission, Government of India
UIDAI strategy overview creating a unique identity number for every resident in India by Unique Identification Authority of India, Planning Commission, Government of India
UIDAI: Inside the World's Largest Data Management Project- The scope of India's UID project is breath-taking; but what's even more incredible is that it has got the most unlikely partners to work smoothly together by Mitu Jayashankar, N.S. Ramnath | Nov 29, 2010
