'Acknowledging the existence of every single citizen automatically compels the state to improve the quality of services and immediately give the citizen better access', wrote Nandan Nilekani in his book 'Imagining India.'
Very soon, Manmohan Singh asked him to spearhead the National Unique Identification Card (UID) project.
To give a background for those who missed this news (most unlikely though), this project aims to provide a unique indentification card to every citizen of India. This card will contain details like the name, sex, address, marital status, photo, identification mark and finger biometrics by 2011. The unique identification number will be based on a sophisticated application called SCOSTA, a secured electronic device that’s used for keeping data & other info in a way that only authorized persons can view it. It can be used as a voter I-card to proof for opening a bank account and among other things, is supposed to "ensure that any lacuna in the UPA flagship schemes (NREGS, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Food Security Act- see the previous blog by Jay, etc) is removed so that the benefits do not reach those they are not meant for."
While cautiously acknowledging the grave and not-to-be-underestimated challenges in the implementation of this proposal, I am still trying to figure out why the microfinance sector seems to be so apathetic towards this initiative.
Just assuming for a minute that this excellent and ear-pleasing government proposal does manage to show some results for a change, we have reason to celebrate, don't we?
Provision under Rule 9 of the Prevention of Money-laundering Rules, 2005 is as follows:
"Verification of the records of the identity of clients. - (1) Every banking company, financial institution and intermediary, as the case may be, shall, at the time of opening an account or executing any transaction with it, verify and maintain the record of identity and current address or addresses including permanent address or addresses of the client, the nature of business of the client and his financial status;"
Minakshi Ramji aptly points out in her study on Financial Inclusion in Gulbarga that "Poor individuals, especially women and other marginalized groups, rarely have legal proof of identity, address or employment. This renders obtaining formal credit even more onerous."
So...how do these people get loans? So the UID proposal is good news...right??
Here are the cynical comments I'd expect and agree with and on why we should not overestimate it: (you may add)
- "Enrolment and authentication" will be a mammoth task, as pointed out by Mr. Nilekani himself. A population of 1.1 billion, a significant portion of India-2 (in Kishore Biyani's terminology) in remote areas
- Updating the data stored on the card and the database- another huge challenge.
- Past similar endaevours have not been entirely (ahem) successful.
- Voter ID cards, PAN cards, SMART cards... how many more cards do we stuff in our wallet?
- He is 'powered by intellect, driven by values' :) (Infosys tagline)
- project manager, CEO and vice chairman of Infosys for the past 27 years
- a proven outstanding programmer and systems analyst
- author of the bestselling book 'Imagining India' after reading which we can imagine his ethics
Judging just from the fact that Manmohan Singh picked a corporate maestro to head this project rather than a sycophant politician from the cabinet, he looks like he's looking for a clean, corruption-free delivery and would most likely be in the mood to give him his space too and make efforts to pave the way for him rather than pose the usual bureaucratic hurdles.
Personally, I've decided to have patience, settle at a mildly optimistic attitude and hope that for once, the execution of this project will be nearly (at least somewhat) as good as it sounds.
22 comments:
Pallavi,
Great post. I agree that this initiative has tons of potential, and could be very useful for microfinance. For instance, would make a credit bureau a lot easier to implement . . .
Mr. Nilekani is definitely a great choice, and Mr. Nilekani's decision to "run the gauntlet" is great, too. Surely, its only a few people that ever get the opportunity to leave their stamp on the "identity" of billions.
My guess is that while he will "fail" according to conventional parameters given these timelines, he'll make sure that the basic decisions don't prove costly in the long run.
This projest is not about technology, logistics, reach, or any such challenges. Its bound to fail because government doesn't " know who is an Indian" and who is not. There is no political will to address this, and that is why the illegal immigrant problem is so huge.
Ask any person from the armed forces that has spent some time along the border in Uttar Pradesh, the north-east, and so on, and they will tell you how difficult it is to answer this question.
The other aspect is, it is not necessary that corruption is limited to government-run organizations. Given a chance, the private sector can and will match them penny for slippery penny.
Well, there are at least a few people who are looking forward to it very anxiously. Check out 'Universal Financial Access by 2013' - www.ufa-india.org. A movement spearheaded by Sanjay Bhargava.
I think Nandan Nilekani has become the perfect poster boy for all of Indian IT. He has shown how by staying in India one can build a BIG corporation, world class working environment, multi-billion dollar valuations and then contribute to the nation in even bigger ways by taking national challenges like UID. I am sure he will be a role model for many generations to come.
Pallavi,
First things first, GREAT POST !!
On www.ufa-india.org, these were my comments and I am posting this back here.
A bank account (read unique id) does not necessarily mean that the client will be welcomed by the bank. The problem is not with having a bank account but deeper issues such as flexibility of product creation, affordable interest rates, attitude of bank staff, ability not only to collect loans but products like savings, money market mutual funds etc. The reason why the government has agreed that the biometric card project has not been successful is that the value in the client having a card but the usefulness of the card itself to the client.
Companies and so called development professionals, two years ago, proposed to charge atrocious amounts of cash to provide villagers with cards. The project was justified saying that the client will be provided with an identity (photograph, fancy card) that will contribute to him feeling "important". The client is much more intelligent than we think he is and thus the business idea failed miserably.
It is important for financial institutions and organizations to create products that are client centric rather than product centric. My opinion is the entire microfinance/banking industry requires a re-vamp. We have until now only focused on the "low hanging fruits" and it is time for innovation and change if the universal nation ID/bank account project needs to be meaningful.
Thanks all for the comments!
Shumit- I agree with everything you said. This project is definitely no panacea to the problems, it will only remove ONE hurdle (problem of identification) if implemented successful.
Kris-yes, there's no doubt about rampant corruption in the private sector. But Nandan Nilekani is famous for his ethics and values (hopefully no scams will be discovered in the future to refute this).
As for the illegal immigrant problem, yes, that's really worrying! Guess we'll have to wait and see how Mr. Nilekani's team "strategically" deals with it :)
One must admire Infy strategy in tactical move to UID project. An estimated 4B USD worth project can add to Infy's Balance sheet in times to come, maintaining the stock value till the recession ceases. I am sure, a lot has been worked out based on the global market melt down and domestic market can contribute to the company growth with one such project, which also has national importance.
All said and done hats off to INFY planners, UID can bring change in Indian Identity. Ofcourse, I agree with a few bloggers, who have questioned the "WILL POWER of the MASTER"
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/column-imagining-india-to-imaging-india/481770/0
Great article by Bibek Debroy (he's a famous economist) on the same issue. Don't miss the beginning quote by Nilekani in 'Imagining India.'
"Unfortunately the media does not read bestsellers" (neither did I in this case though); but while trying to find the necessary information for the blog, I cursed the media a hundred times for terrible coverage.
Dear Pallavi. You have expressed the hope that the UID will solve the problem of identification, if successful. However, identification itself is not a problem for most Indians. We have had birth certificates, voter IDs, passport, PAN, bank a/c number etc for many years and these have served us well. More than providing me an identity, the UID is expected to provide a link across my diverse identities as a citizen, so that once I have it, the govt needs nothing more from me because it can find the links on its own. That should help provide an integrated environment for e-governance. However, there are some key questions here: What benefits will the UID entitle a person to? Will it have a superseding importance over all other IDs? Will it be the ultimate proof of citizenship? Who can have an ID and at what age? Do we have a policy on UIDs before we go ahead full-scale with the UID project? Hope we will have answers to those questions soon. Thanks
Prasanna, thanks for the comment. From my background reading of the issue, I can say that this identity is supposed to have a superseding advantage over all other IDs and be the ultimate proof of citizenship. Its a unique number given to each person in the country. You mentioned so many IDs that have been introduced at different points of time, many people have multiple PAN cards, multiple IDs, many don't have a single one and the govt probably has a lot of distorted incomplete databases. So they are aiming at building a single database of every citizen of India which would enable people to receive the benefits they are entitled to.
About the age, I'm not sure. I don't remember a mention of that. In view of practical constraints and the illegal immigrants problem mentioned earlier, I am worried about the deadline!
Hi,
Currently opening of any bank acccount,demat account,MFs,mobile connection required a Address and Id proof.
After UID, will this practice be eliminated completely. Just providing the UID will be sufficient enough to open the account or get a connection ?
Pradeep, I should think so! It gives all the proofs required
I agree with Prasanna. There should be a well defined policy before we go ahead. The project is too big and important for any individual to implement it. I would prefer it has its own basics in hardware & software design. Not very happy with Bill Gates interest and Nilekani's proximity to Infosys. Transparency and Discussion is the need of the hour.
Hi Pallavi,
Thanks for an interesting thread.
Teh project is really intriguing and so is it's implementation. Have you had a chance to sneak into Mr Nilekani's mind as to how his roll out plan looks like.
Hi,
UID is a good initiative to restrict the illegal immigration.
UID will serve as tool to overcome the red tapism in the government offices.
UID can substitute all other identification issues whether it is related with illegal migration, in banking and financial transactions, fraud, health related matters,in education sector, welfare sector, in the election process, monitoring efficient law and order and can apply in order to protect the interests of the nation by providing specific attention to each citizen of our country.
UID is ofcourse an ambitious project and a step forward towards the smooth and transperent governance progress.
The most important challange of UID is to make it tamper proof on the same time is to provide accurate and specific record of each citizen of this nation.
UID should include,Biometric finger print,face recognition,official address, Unique Identity Number, Blood Group, Age,Sex,Criminal records,Welfare Scheems one person enjoys,nearest Kins or parents or other persons address,Driving licence,Tax related numbers etc with latest Photo which can be changed in every one year.
There should be one office for the same in every district of the country to co-ordinate and enter accurate information after a primary investigation with the help of local authorities.
wishing all success to this project. Jai Hind.
i urgently need a proposal of micro finance can any body send on my mail spsingh2009@yahoo.co.in
thanks lot
i am working in slum
Unique number is necessary. finger print + 16 digit number + pic should be stored in databases. this gives each finger print a number and corresponding face of that finger. if if go to some gov office they check your number and matches you with picture in their database but no need of physical id card.
what about the nri will they get uid
Any suggestions on the format of UID itself. I mean how should it look like. For example, in a very simple form it can be like this:
IN 1987 1126 PUJL 7745 ,
In this IN can stand for India, next four letter denote the year in which the person borns 1987, the next four numbers denotes the month and date of birth, then the next four alphabetd denotes State and district of birth like PU-Punjab and JL - jalandar, and the last four digit is a personnel number. the advantage in this, one has to remember only the last four digit, rest is self explanetory.
Any suggestion on this.
Your Virtual Social Identity on web for Global Cause…
VSOID.com is the first people search engine in the web world providing Unique Identification Number to its users across the globe. This Unique Number will store all information about the user facilitating various services offered by VSOID.com
VOSID.com aims to be tie-up with global and local leading brands and service providers to offer competitive benefits to its users. This will act as a marketing tool for many of the services and charity organizations.
VSOID.com offer users wide range of services ranging from association with brands of their choices to get great deals and exclusive offers from time to time, support global cause, search jobs and share information.
Its is first of its kind which tells you the people interested in your Brand .This exclusive search gives the information of the customers which will help brands to reach there loyal customers easily and Understand there needs.
VSOID.com is the place was people can get closely associated with the social causes to make this world a better place to live. This exclusive search will help to find people who support the common social cause.
The Vsoid.com was incorporated in August 2009 by its four partners: Mr Prashant Patil, Ms Sonali Jain
Within period of one month vsoid.com as already reached 20,000 users across India and abroad. This website can also be substitute for Unique Identification Number which the Indian government is planning to launch. This virtual unique identification number can even help to stop cyber crime if it is been used effectively
Mr. Nilekani,
I dont know whether this seen by you or not. I want to suggest the way of getting the information to the database.
It is also my dream project which should be in place for n no of reasons specially in our India with a huge unity and diversity.
The main aim is to decrease the communication gap btn govt and a common man,getting down the frauds , dowry , decreasing the time for completion of a work with govt or private firms, fake certificates , fake
and alot and alot.......in one word all things which we come across in our life are under one set. (Hospitals,Colleges,schools,Institutes,Universities,Banks,Gas,electricity,Shopping,Bussiness,All means of Transportaion...nothing gets out of it .. means every thing should come under it in one way or other)
All these should be plugged together with a common thing called UID.
*** My View of Starting the project is:
Take data of every family from the hospital on a childs birth : start the security check at the itme of pregnance so that once the child is born he gets his UID
Design the basic information which we should want from the citizen.
Rather than taking data from randomly selected people of institutions....
Go for the whole group of people who are going to give birth to a child from the next 4/5 months depending the design work done.
If 1 lakh births take place in a day in India around 166 no of births take place in one district as we have 600 districts in india.
collecting 166 inforamtion is not a big deal.
By which we will have a full grip (inforation which is scrutiniized )of the new child and also his family.
i.e... once a family is ready to give a birth they should be done with al the secutiry checks before the child borns exactly so that he can get a UID as soon as child borns.
then if you start with a childs development exactly at the age of 15years of the first child we will be in a position to conqure all the departments and things which I mentioned above ... which leadss to the project running successfully.
collecting information:
Prepare a software such that it is distributed/taken to a hospital by a representatinve and data is uploaded right as soon as the child birth is done soft and hard copy.
main thing here is the family should submit all the details of all the family people like grand parents,parents,brothers or sisters.
Which makes 1 birth to get a 4/5 peoples data which is already scrutinized in the period of pregnancy.
I have alot to tell ... fell free to contact mrkalyansagar@gmail.com or 09029632421
If boring plz excuse
I am Group Captain (retd) JS Chauhan. I took PR from Air Force. I want to be the part of the project. I have qualifications (M Com, MBA (Fin) MSc)and competitive competancies as well as rich administrative and people management experience and willingness to work in challenging environmenet. I would love to be part of Mr Nilekani team to rededicate my services to the Nation second time.
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