Identity Project's List: Indian Express

"Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia will pitch with the government for extending “full autonomy” to the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a move that will silence a section of the Plan panel’s own bureaucracy. The Plan panel bureaucracy has been waging a turf battle with the authority accusing it of keeping the Plan panel out of the decision-making loop.

Ahluwalia is likely to convey to the Finance Ministry on Wednesday the Plan panel’s willingness to delegate all powers to UIDAI without the need for any monitoring by the Planning Commission. Only last month, the Plan panel had pointed out to the finance ministry that there were no in-built checks and balances and the authority worked independent of the official procedures. It had called for a review of UIDAI’s functioning. “I am fully backing UIDAI on autonomy,” Ahluwalia said. He, however, said that concerns raised by the Planning Commission Member Secretary Sudha Pillai were genuine. "

"Mumbai Even as policy-makers contemplate replacing subsidies for the economically disadvantaged with direct cash doles, a pilot project in Maharashtra has transferred funds to the unique identification card (UID) numbers of beneficiaries, which are linked to bank accounts.

A senior official from the state Information Technology (IT) department said they had successfully transferred Rs 100 into the Aadhar numbers of 133 residents of Padgha village in Thane district instead of their individual bank accounts.

“This proves that the bank servers are ready for a link with the UID system,” said the official, while referring to the pilot project conducted in August in the village, which falls on the Mumbai- Nashik highway.

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"The Planning Commission is all set to defer the meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), the apex body that approves Five Year plans, by a week.

The move, according to sources, is a bid to overcome the dissent within the Plan panel over the poverty debate and resolve the growing tussle with the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). There has been a furore over the Plan panel’s move for stating that people spending more than Rs 32 per day in urban India are exempt from the below poverty level criteria.

Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia is currently abroad ever since the Commission filed the affidavit on estimation of poverty with the Supreme Court. "

"Chandigarh To ensure students of the Institute for the Blind, Sector 26 attained their Unique Identification (UID) numbers without any hiccups, a special enrolment centre was set up at the institute on Thursday. While a total of 150 students aged between five to 16 years (Class I to XII) study at the institute, the enrolment process was completed for about 25 of them on Thursday.

“While the average time required for enrolment of an individual does not take more than 15 minutes, here we spent about 30 minutes per student, ensuring they were comfortable during the scanning of their fingerprint and Iris,” said an official from Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Some of the students who had their eyes completely closed were exempted from the iris scan, while otherwise at least 60 per cent portion of iris is to be captured during UID enrolment, said an oficial at the centre. "

"PJ Nayak, MD and country head, Morgan Stanley, has called for a bigger role for non-banking institutions in fostering financial inclusion, saying it would result in a more diverse financial ecosystem. Nayak believes that projecting banks as the central thrust of financial inclusion may not really work.

Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘New bank licences: A framework for reforms and competition in the sector’ at the FE Best Banks Awards, Nayak observed that “just like a commercial bank can’t work like a moneylender, similarly, a commercial bank would find it very difficult to work like an NBFC specialising in truck financing. I would say that the counterfactual tells you that Shriram Transport Finance is an extremely good example of financial inclusion. So, we should, at the very least, be saying that financial inclusion requires a broader set of financial corporates to actually participate in the process and it’s not even clear to me that the apex of this has to be the commercial banking system.” "

"he National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is of the opinion that the government's move to provide citizens with 'Aadhaar' or unique identification numbers in its present form could lead to discrimination.

The NHRC's remarks came in response to views from it sought by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance headed by Yashwant Sinha on National Identification Authority of India Bill introduced last December. "

"Mumbai PJ Nayak, MD and country head, Morgan Stanley, has called for a bigger role for non-banking institutions in fostering financial inclusion, saying it would result in a more diverse financial ecosystem. Nayak believes that projecting banks as the central thrust of financial inclusion may not really work.

Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘New bank licences: A framework for reforms and competition in the sector’ at the FE Best Banks Awards, Nayak observed that “just like a commercial bank can’t work like a moneylender, similarly, a commercial bank would find it very difficult to work like an NBFC specialising in truck financing. I would say that the counterfactual tells you that Shriram Transport Finance is an extremely good example of financial inclusion. So, we should, at the very least, be saying that financial inclusion requires a broader set of financial corporates to actually participate in the process and it’s not even clear to me that the apex of this has to be the commercial banking system.” "

"Mumbai With just 40 per cent of India’s population having bank accounts, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee exhorted banks to do more for financial inclusion. Speaking at the FE (Financial Express) Best Banks awards ceremony here this evening, Mukherjee said he expected “the new banks which are going to come would be in a position to effectively compete with the existing players and attune themselves with national priorities”. This, the finance minister said, included government schemes for mandated lending, priority sector lending and on financial inclusion.

Coaxing banks to continue to strive for excellence, Mukherjee said the most important aspect of the FE Best Banks award, now in its 15th year, was that it set benchmarks for others to try and live up to. Recognising the role played by public sector banks, which account for nearly three-fourths of bank lending, the FM said in the last quarter there had been a 10-20 per cent growth in the topline of banks and a profit growth of more than 25 per cent. "

"The government’s ambitious project to provide a unique identification number to all residents in the country is facing opposition from two unexpected fronts – the Planning Commission, over almost tripling of costs due to iris scan and the Parliamentary standing committee on finance, over ownership of the project.

The Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) proposal to include iris scan and expand the enrolment drive to 1.12 billion is estimated to increase its budget from Rs 6,600 crore now to Rs 17,900 crore. Along with this, the fund needs of the Registrar General of India (RGI) or the Census office to complete the creation of the National Population Register, too has more than doubled from Rs 3,254 crore to Rs 7,732.85 crore. The NPR is also collecting biometric data of all residents and NPR cards will include UID numbers. "

"A woman controlling a dragon, a wolf and a dog — called Fraud, Crime and Corruption — at the end of a leash. A key that unlocks Security, Social Schemes and Identity. A Sikh family walking happily under dark clouds of Fraud, Embezzlement and Corruption, protected by a large umbrella.

If the Punjab government had its way, the leash, the key and the umbrella could have been symbols for Aadhaar, the new unique 12-digit ID, in the state. Except that the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the agency that will issue the IDs to all Indians, does not agree.

Punjab thought animated figures and comicbook drawings complete with speech bubbles would help reach the message of Aadhaar to a wider audience. UIDAI believes Aadhaar must communicate in only one visual language, common across the country. "

"Upgraded software will make biometric & demographic information on head of family sufficient for enrollment of all other members

With the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) planning to upgrade the software version being currently used at the city enrollment centres, those residents who do not have any proof of identity for getting themselves enrolled for unique identification (UID) numbers have a reason to cheer. "

"Five home-grown technology bluechips are in the last lap for India’s largest domestic IT outsourcing contract worth R2,000 crore. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has shortlisted TCS, Wipro, HCL Infosystems, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam for the lucrative contract. UIDAI is currently going through the companies’ technical bids. The winner will manage all IT-related operations of the prestigious Aaadhar project.

Out of the original nine bidders, Accenture, IBM, HCL Technologies and HP did not make it to the short list, while Infosys Technologies, the country’s second-largest IT firm, did not participate in the bidding process.

“Infosys didn’t participate in the bids. Moreover, we were looking for large systems integrators and not software companies. Hence, these companies were shortlisted,” said a UIDAI official. "

"In this Walk the Talk on NDTV 24×7, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority, tells The Indian Express editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta what he would say to Anna Hazare if sent as mediator — that one law and a tough inspector alone cannot weed out corruption

I am not standing near India Gate or Ramlila Maidan or Jantar Mantar or any of the places from where news comes now. I am standing at Nandan Nilekani’s home in New Delhi. Nandan, you are in a good place, an outsider who came inside. Until the other day you were a civil society-wala and then you came to the dark side, but it is a safe place to be right now for you."

"IT firm Glodyne Technoserve announced the acquisition of e-governance services provider Comat Technologies for an undisclosed amount.

The acquisition will help the BSE-listed firm expand its presence in the e-governance services segment.

"The acquisition will help us expand our reach in new states. Together with our technology and service offerings, we believe tremendous value can be created for all constituents," Glodyne Chairman and Managing Director Annand Sarnaaik said.

He, however, declined to comment on the size of the deal.

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"Former Infosys chief N R Narayana Murthy has finally agreed to become the chief mentor of West Bengal government's IT advisory group, which will not only formulate a new IT policy for the state but will also present a blueprint for spreading e-governance in every sphere of public administration.

Commerce and Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee, who also holds the portfolio of IT, announced this on Monday in Kolkata. "

"HYDERABAD: Around 50 per cent of applicants of the Unique Identification Number have not got their Aadhaar cards though they applied five months ago. The rule-book, however, states an applicant should get the Aadhaar number within 20 days after registration.

Shabaz Khan, a resident of Malakpet said, “My family and I enrolled for the Aadhaar card on February 11 but we have still not received our Aadhaar numbers. I complained many times at the Malakpet Aadhaar centre and called up the help lines of Aadhaar but to no avail. Some of my colleagues have also not received the Aadhaar number though they applied four months ago. What is the cause of so much delay?”

B Hari Krishna, deputy director of the Public Distribution System admitted there are technical problems in the Aadhaar registration process. “We sorted out hundreds of problems in the past and are looking to address the current ones soon,” he said. B Saibabu, technical in-charge of Aadhaar added, “So far, 1.2 crore individuals have registered for Aadhaar numbers but half of the applicants have not got their numbers. They have been phoning in with their complaints to the civil supply office.” Meanwhile, Aadhaar in-charge and assistant supply officer, MS Seshagiri Rao said, “75 per cent of the population have already registered for Aadhaar cards and 40 per cent have already got their Aadhaar numbers. The rest will get their numbers soon.”"

"NEW DELHI: Public sector banks (PSBs) in the country have achieved a significant credit growth of 22.44 per cent in the last financial year 2010-11, increased their net profit from approximately Rs 39,000 crore to Rs 45,000 crore in 2010-11, recorded 35 per cent growth in credit to MSME sector against the target of 20 per cent and are flaunting higher agricultural credit in 2010-11 of over Rs 4,46,000 crore against the target Rs 3,75,000 crore. All this against a backdrop of tighter liquidity, pressures of meeting galloping demand from all quarters and persisting global uncertainties, a review of the performance of PSBs by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee discloses."

"Recipients of subsidised cooking gas and fertiliser will soon get direct cash transfers while state governments will work out a policy for providing cash subsidy for kerosene. These are the key recommendations of the task force chaired by UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani to suggest ways to plug leakages in the current subsidy framework for kerosene, LPG and fertiliser.

Listing out the benefits of a direct subsidy regime, the task force, which submitted its interim report to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said, “A direct subsidy transfer framework facilitates monitoring the subsidy transactions carried out at different levels ... and provides a powerful reconciliation and social audit mechanism.” "

"A week after it submitted a roadmap for moving to a system of direct transfer of subsidies for LPG, kerosene and fertiliser, the government on Wednesday asked the Nandan Nilekani taskforce to suggest measures for modernising the public distribution system (PDS) that is plagued by large scale leakages.

“It has been decided to extend the Terms of Reference of the Task Force to the reforms of PDS to examine and suggest an implementable solution for direct transfer of subsidies on food and kerosene to intended beneficiaries with the use of Aadhaar numbers (Unique Identification numbers), Aadhaar enabled transactions and Aadhaar authentication infrastructure,” a finance ministry release said. "

"Having enrolled more than 1 lakh Chandigarh residents for the Unique Identification (UID) number by now, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is aiming to complete the process for all the residents of the city by the end of this year. Nearly 6,000 UID numbers have already been issued to applicants from the city since March this year, when the enrollment process had commenced here.

For setting up the enrollment centres, UIDAI has tied with the Central Bank of India (CBI), State Bank of India(SBI), National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) and India Post. A total of 17 enrollment centres are currently operational across the city. "