Unique identity cards to all citizens by 2011: Chidambaram India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Monday that the proposed unique multi-purpose national identity cards would be issued to all citizens of the country by 2011. Speaking to newsmen here, Chidambaram informed that in the first phase during the current fiscal, 1.2 crore people in about 3,331 coastal villages and cities would receive the cards. The Union Government has set up a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani to implement the project. The UIDAI is aimed at providing multiple proofs of identity for citizens which would aid them in getting any government service or personal needs like opening bank accounts or seeking telephone connections. Once the unique identity project completes, India will be the first country in the world, where the biometrics data of over a billion people has been captured and stored in an online database.