Like any other government organisation, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is facing manpower crunch. Vacancies in eight of its regional offices have not been filled since they became functional in November 2009.
As a registrar, SBI will collect both demographic and biometric information of the bank's 170 million account holders.
The government on Monday said it will provide all the funds necessary for the implementation of its unique identification number project, dismissing media reports to the contrary.
Chandrajit Banerjee, director general, CII said: "This move will bestow the benefits of information technology to the common man and will also help establish citizenship, thus enhancing security at various levels. This would further bring transparency in different delivery channels, help in mapping diverse requirements of the nation and, in turn, assure better planning and strategisation for the country."
UIDAI has split the overall project into small ones and handed them over to multiple vendors to speed up work.
Internet search giant Google on Thursday said it will be "happy to help" India in implementing a project to provide unique identity numbers to citizens, if asked.
Pandey is a Maharashtra cadre IAS officer of 1984 batch.
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 government has opted for the RuPay debit card over the Aadhaar-based platform for "last-mile" authentication in its Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.
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