This decision was taken by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), headed by Nandan Nilekani, which has been tasked with giving the 12 digit identity number to the citizens.
As per the “UIDAI strategy overview” report, the Authority will also reimburse a day’s salary to people under Below Poverty Line (BPL), considering that the poor have to skip a day’s salary to get enrolled in the project.
“Though the Authority is planning to provide one day’s wage, around Rs 100, to people under Below Poverty Line, the final notification in this regard will be issued later,” a senior official in the Authority told Deccan Herald.
The Authority is likely to spend Rs 3,000 crore in the next five years for this purpose.
The Authority will also partner with state governments and national agencies and schemes that have a pro-poor focus –– such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana.
At present the Authority is executing Proof of Concepts (PoCs) in three states –– Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. In Karnataka, two districts–– Tumkur and Mysore –– have been selected for the implementation of PoCs.
These PoCs will enable systems to be tested before the concept is scaled up. It is learnt that the indicative price for the service is pegged at Rs 70-130, but the official refused to confirm it.
The complete field testing on enrolment and biometric processes will take place in mid-July this year. The first number is expected to be issued between August 2010 and February 2011, while the authority plans to issue 600 million UIDs over the next four years.
DH News Service
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