Nandan Nilekani, the Chairman for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has made an official announcement for national ID number issuance to begin in August 2011 with the first phase of rolling out the numbers to continue into December of that year, according to a Times of India article.
The announcement came during Nilekani’s visit to the eastern India state of Bihar where he spoke on the basics of the ID number program, which issues a unique number to citizens that points towards biometric markers for identification verification, and elicited opinions on it from the local government.
Nilekani also spoke on his expectations for the roll-out wherein he predicted about 600 million, or half, of India’s population to receive their numbers within five and a half years. Additionally, he commended the state for their own progress in the biometrics and technology markets that has seen a project that issued biometric cards and the government receiving an award for achievements in e-governance.
Bihar officials assured full support of the UID program to Nilekani, however, they also impressed some of their more pertinent worries around the scheme including the easing of identification and banking for migrant workers and the request for special surveys when rolling out the numbers to help track Bihar citizens that have left the state in search of jobs.
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