Identity Project's List: Deccan Chronicle

"UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani today briefed the Chairman of the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers on GST Sushil Modi here about the IT initiatives for the roll out of Goods and Services Tax.

Nilekani discussed with the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the state finance portfolio, an initiative for centralised IT infrastructure for Goods and Services Tax (GST) across states.

The common IT facilities can at present be used for Value Added Tax and will be available for GST as and when it is implemented, a Bihar government statement said.

The GST, considered as a major tax reform, would subsume most of the central and state taxes into a single levy.

The IT platform will entail a common portal providing 3 core services (registration, returns and payments). "This would mean a common PAN-based taxpayer ID, a common return, and a common challan for tax payment," the statement said.
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"UID is all about identifying a person with respect to his/her biometrics. One’s photo or profile has comparatively very less significance. These can be changed by applying again, but not biometrics and the linked UID. Hence, it is natural that some citizens are worried about losing sensitive data. But why is there no criticism when biometrics is sought for licences and RSBY health cards?

The only additional data being captured now is iris. The outrageous criticism of UID is unjustified. Secondly, the safety of the so-called biometrics collected for other purposes is not ensured but that is not the case with CIDR in UID. This is the first time biometrics is being kept safely, at least better than other contemporary applications, and I am sure the critics of UID will agree. Yet, they feel private data can be lost by UIDAI. They never felt so in the past, even though the data was seldom kept under secure encryption and a state-of-the-art technology firewall. "

"The Unique Identification (UID) project may not be for the old, at least in Kerala.

If officials are to be believed it’s all because of the open source software which the previous LDF government popularised all over the state.

Two senior citizens who went to the Kakkanad Akshaya office to register and get their 12-digit aadhar number saw the equipment refusing to accept their finger impressions.

The akshaya coordinator who heads the operations says that it is a problem with the operating system. The system functions normally on Microsoft Windows.

Most other states use Windows as the operating system. But Linux, the free software used in the state, has posed problems, especially when it comes to elder citizens."

"Aug. 17: The Unique identification (UID) enrollment looks set to cover 80 per cent or more of Bengalureans by March 2012. This will make the state of Karnataka among the pioneers of the unique identification program. Stating this during the launch of the program in the city on Wednesday, chief minister Sadananda Gowda initiated the program by getting himself enrolled for the 12-digit identification under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

According to the CM, Bengaluru is fast approaching the one crore mark and there are still a lot of people to cover under the program. “To facilitate this, the state government will provide over 1,000 enrollment stations, phase-wise. These stations will be spread across all wards and public offices, apart from a gradual expansion of educational institutions, IT Parks and residential welfare associations. Karnataka was the fore-runner of the UID program through piloting registrations in Mysore and Tumur. The state has seen 95 per cent enrollment in these two districts. Additionally, enrollment in 13 districts of the State have begun and the remaining districts will be brought under the programme by August 31,” stated Mr Gowda.

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"Bringing two of the country's top business families together, software major Infosys Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy's son Rohan today entered into wedlock with Lakshmi Venu of the TVS group.

Rohan Murthy (28) is a Microsoft fellow, pursuing PhD in Computer Science from Harvard University and Lakshmi (27) is daughter of the country's second largest two-wheeler manufacturer TVS Motor Company Chairman Venu Srinivasan.

The star-studded event was attended by senior BJP leader L K Advani, Union Ministers P Chidambaram, Kamal Nath, Anand Sharma and G K Vasan besides top corporate honchos."

"July 29: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has speeded up the issuing of certificates to UID enrollment operators in the city. This has led to an increase in the number of post offices registering citizens for the 12-digit Aadhaar number that is to serve as the primary identification for all Indian citizens.

From just 10 post offices registering citizens for Aadhaar, Bengaluru now has 29. According to India Post, the registrar for Aadhaar programme in Karnataka, more and more applications are being distributed every day in the city and there is an increasing demand for enrollment. In 25 days the number of enrollments across Karnataka stands at 54,241 with 15,000 from Bengaluru. Each station or post office is enrolling between 50 and 70 citizens every day. "

"July 19: Now that the enrolment process for Aadhaar in Bengaluru is in full swing, an element of doubt has crept into the minds of some citizens. They are raising questions on the need for and the security of a process that will reduce their identity to a 12-digit number. This time, their concerns are directed to the chiefs of the Planning Commission and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Legal notices have been sent to the two departments, asking the government to halt the programme with immediate effect. They have also raised certain points on the legality of the Aadhaar programme. According to B.T. Venkatesh, senior counsel, Karnataka High Court, who has also issued a legal notice to the Centre, the very working of the UIDAI, that is still a Bill and not yet an Act in Parliament, is in itself illegal. "

"July 8: In a significant decision, the state Cabinet on Friday decided to follow in the footsteps of the Centre and make the Aadhar card (Unique Identity number attached card), a valid proof of a citizen’s identity. This means that it can be a substitute for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Cards, which are presently used as a proof of identity.

The card is issued by Unique identification Authority of India (UIDAI), chaired by former Infosys CEO, Nandan Nilekani. The Cabinet also decided not to wind up Mysore Minerals Limited(MML), which had earlier run into losses. “The company is now making profits and therefore, the government decided not to shut down the public sector undertaking,” sources in the Cabinet said. "

"June 27: Chaos prevailed at the post-offices which issued Aadhar enrolment forms on Monday. The enthusiasm of Bengalureans to get a permanent identity proof was met with lack of preparedness on the part of the officials. While Bengalureans queued up in large numbers at the centres, there were only a few forms issued. Many people had to go back without a form.

A major source of confusion was regarding the validity of forms downloaded from the website and photocopied from the original forms. The General Post Office had put up a notice in the morning saying that applicants could download and print forms or get photocopies of an original form. However, when people turned up with filled-in forms, they were told that downloaded and photocopied forms were not valid and an original form from one of the seven post offices across the city, was a must."

"Anyone who has moved cities in India for a job will agree, starting life afresh can be quite a task. Renting an apartment, then getting to know the new environment and coping with an alien culture is tough enough, but even simple things can prove to be enormously complicated. Try opening a bank account, for example. Even if you have an account with the same bank in your previous location, you will have to surmount a mountain of formalities and provide a wide spectrum of documentation, all to prove your identity."

"The Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government on Thursday gave its nod to a nationwide headcount to identify the poor and enumerate people in different caste and religious groups.

The census of poor is intended to ascertain the Below Poverty Line (BPL) population in order to ensure that the benefits of the government’s targeted subsidy programmes and other welfare measures reach the ones they are meant for. The caste and religious headcounts are being carried out in accordance with the promises made by the UPA Government in Parliament to different political parties during the monsoon session last year.

The headcount is going to be paperless with the enumerators for the first time using a handheld device developed by Bangalore based Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to enter digital data after visiting households in both rural and urban areas of the country.
A meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave approval for conducting the BPL census in rural and urban areas. The census will begin in June and end by the end of this year. The enumeration of people in different caste and religious groups will also be carried out simultaneously along with the BPL census, the Cabinet decided."

"As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations in the city, the Economic Times is pleased to present daily columns from some of the city's brightest minds on ways to improve Bangalore's appeal as a major global hub for business, innovation and entrepreneurship. We start with Nandan Nilekani, who talks about his ideas for creating a smart network for managing city services.

In 1961, the then US president John F Kennedy had reminded his country of its unique position in the world. We are, he said, "a city upon a hill — the eyes of all people are upon us" . In a different time and in a different continent, these words ring as true. Bangalore is the "city upon a hill" , a place that holds a unique position and perspective for India — it has served as a bellwether for change, the place where socioeconomic transitions take place before they sweep across the rest of the country. Bangalore's unusual role has come from the kind of growth it witnessed since the 1970s. "

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The initiative of the All India Council for Technical Education to issue unique identification numbers (UIDs) to all the students and faculty members in engineering colleges by April-end has hit a roadblock due to opposition from college managements.

The managements are yet to send the data on students and faculty to the AICTE despite repeated circulars from the technical body that it will impose additional financial burden on them.

The project was envisaged to streamline engineering education as well as to keep a tab on faculty members who work in multiple institutions against the norms. "

"Feb. 26: The minister for secondary education, Mr K. Parthasaradhi, assured that the government will issue permanent ration cards to those who received temporary ration cards in the Rachchabanda programme.

He inaugurated the Designated Photograph Location (DPL) centres in Seethanna-pet community centre in the city on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, he said, the district administration has issued ration coupons to 89,809 beneficiaries.

Stating that the district administration received 1,77,356 applications for ration cards in Rachchabanda programme, he said the officials are conducting enq-uiry on the applications and all the eligible will get rati-on cards soon. He said beneficiaries will get ration cards along with Aadhar cards, which are more useful to the poor. Earlier, he has given his full information to officials for Aadhar Card."

"Scrapping the earlier list of successful candidates, the new search-cum-selection panel today started the process to select Chairman & Managing Directors (CMDs) of state-run telecom companies BSNL and MTNL and invited applications for the respective posts.

"We have published advertisements for inviting fresh applications for the post of CMDs of these (BSNL and MTNL) companies," Department of Telecommunications Secretary R Chandrashekhar told PTI."

"BSNL's current CMD Gopal Das, who was given additional charge about seven months ago, is retiring next Monday.

The committee also includes Cabinet Secretary KM Chandresekhar, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister TKA Nair and UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani as members for selecting the top officials of the two telecom PSUs.
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"Feb. 18: Pointing out that it was a popular misconception that the Aadhaar/Unique Identification card was a citizenship card, the civil supplies commissioner, Mr Sanjay Jaju, said that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had never said that Aadhaar or UID card could be used as proof of nationality.

As for the quality of the photos on the cards, which looked similar to the disfigured photos that appear on ration cards and EPICs, Mr Jaju said that it was only a letter of communication and not the actual card as the government would be issuing smart cards based on the number.

"It's true that you can't use it as an identity card when the picture is not clear, but the data captured is of high quality and it will be transferred onto the smart cards," he said adding that there was no truth in the allegations that the pictures were of poor quality due to substandard cameras."

"To popularise banking services, Aadhar would electronically create accounts for poor individuals at partner banks, said the agency chairman Nandan Nilekani on Wednesday.

His statement addresses the concerns of many bankers who had feared that they did not have the infrastructure to creating bank accounts for millions of Aadhar number holders. The authorities of the Aadhar project, which is working to give a unique number to all Indian residents, see spread of banking as a major outcome of their effort.

Eighty per cent of the two million individuals, who have been enrolled for the unique Aadhar number so far, have requested for bank accounts, said Nilekani while addressing the Nasscom Leadership Forum 2011. The poor individuals find it difficult to open bank accounts as they are unable to meet the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms of the banks. Under KYC norms, banks are required to verify documents, which authenticate the identity of individuals, to prevent the misuse of bank accounts for money laundering, terrorism and other illegal activities.
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