A Congress bastion over the years, the tribal dominated Nandurbar district in Maharashtra has been chosen for the launch of Aadhaar, the unique identity (UID) numbers.
347688003622 is the Unique ID number of Raju Makkan Madi of Tembhali village, one of the first recepients of the government's most ambitious schemes. The long wait for the UID cards is over for 33-year old Raju Makkan Madi, a labourer who earns Rs 75 a day.
Brief profiles of the 10 Indians who were the first to get their unique identity cards
MindTree, the Bangalore-based information technology services provider, has bagged the application development services segment of the Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification (UID) project, renamed as 'Aadhaar'. This is the first of the many IT projects that has come up for bidding till date.
'Today, the State looks at everyone with suspicion.'
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys Technologies and Wipro were eliminated from the selection process for the project on technical grounds. Another IT major, HCL Technologies, was also rejected. The size of the project is not yet known.
The first batch of the Unique Identification number is expected to be ready by 2010 end, chairman of the national project Nandan Nilekani said.
Registrars would be appointed who would see the preparations and the implementation of the scheme for the cards at State level.
As a registrar, SBI will collect both demographic and biometric information of the bank's 170 million account holders.
In an interview with Sanjay Jog, Unique Identification Authority of India chairman Nandan Nilekani explains the objectives of the UID scheme and its challenges.
The Unique Identification Number, renamed as 'Aadhaar', would be issued soon to Indian residents, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Wednesday.
'The Aadhaar project has grave civil liberty implications. It will enable the government to profile citizens and track their movements and transactions.'
It is reliably learnt that the Congress is clear that such a historical project cannot be kicked off without the presence of Sonia Gandhi and there is a mo ve afoot to ensure that she is also part of the function.
Professional services firm Ernst & Young has bagged the contract from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to become a consulting partner for the project.
Since the first Aadhaar number was issued in September 2010, more than 1.33 billion Aadhaar cards have been generated till June 2022. With the Aadhaar enrolment of adult Indians nearing 100 per cent, the main objective of the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), which was to give Unique Identification numbers (UID) to all residents of India, is almost achieved, said a senior government official. "Enrolment will now be much more update-based, because people keep updating their mobile numbers and addresses.
The Unique Identification Number scheme, which is expected to roll out the first number in 12-18 months, will be first conferred on the beneficiaries of the the centre's flagship programme under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
Activist Gopal Krishna makes a case that the Unique Identification Number project is a gross violation of fundamental human rights and points out that a similar project/law in Britain is going to be repealed.
The linking of biometric UID/Aadhaar number to all public services makes "We, the People of India" worse than slaves, says Gopal Krishna.
'The most valuable personal sensitive information of present and future citizens has been made available to foreign data firms and governments and non-State actors for all time to come,' says Gopal Krishna.
The department of telecommunications has finalised its proposal to use the UID numbers for issuing new connections and detailed guidelines, including the activation procedure, will be issued shortly.
Unless the judges factor in the ungovernability of technologies and their beneficial owners, present and future Presidents, prime ministers, judges, legislators and officials handling sensitive assignments may become redundant with reference to their age-old roles for securing 'national resources and assets', warns Dr Gopal Krishna.
In other welfare schemes, such as those for cooking gas, pension and scholarships, which are linked to DBT, cash is transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
Silently, resolutely, 'Aadhaar' -- as the UID project has now been christened -- and Nilekani have succeeded in attracting some of the best and brightest that the IT world can offer, both from within India and from overseas.
The government has opted for the RuPay debit card over the Aadhaar-based platform for "last-mile" authentication in its Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
Today my mobile service provider made me feel very special. Reason? I initiated the first step to change my service provider by getting a Unique Portable ID.
Admittedly, EVMs too have a UID number and any convergence of data can make the secret ballot system a party of history, warns Dr Gopal Krishna in the 5th part of his series against Aadhaar.
'The government's proposal to store citizens' data including Aadhaar data under its Digital India initiative on cloud is violative of the citizens' human rights because the cloud is admittedly beyond India's jurisdiction.'
Data privacy, he said, is a broader argument beyond Aadhaar as it includes everything such as issues related to mobile phones and social media data.
Given the security dilemma prevailing between India and China, India should curb the operation of Chinese telecom companies in India, asserts Dr Rup Narayan Das.
The plan of UID/Aadhaar-based surveillance does not end with the collection of fingerprints and iris scan, it goes quite beyond it and poses a lethal threat to the idea of India, says Gopal Krishna.
'The government that is talking all the time about national security and national interests should be concerned.' 'When national interests are jeopardised by their own project, they should pause and listen.' 'Whether it is the BJP or the Congress, they all want control over the people.' 'They don't give a damn if anything happens to the people of the country; they are only interested in what they can get out of the data.'
The idea that every citizen in this country is to be numbered is the primary thing in the project.
'For the first month, we have only had 5.5 million who have paid the tax.' '40 per cent have paid nil as tax; 95 per cent of the taxation for the first two months has come from only 400,000 assessees.' 'So even now, the tax-paying habit, of paying a marginal or negligible amount, or not paying anything at all, is quite prevalent,' reveals Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
It is widely believed that Nandan Nilekani's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saved the ambitious Aadhaar project from oblivion or a takeover by the home ministry.
HealthifyMe is an app that connects users to fitness trainers virtually, motivate them on goals.
The govt has a lot more to do then just open bank accounts for the poor in the Jan Dhan scheme.
UID project was launched by the UPA government in 2009.
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