Multi-purpose National Identity card launched

New Delhi, May 26: In a move to effectively address emerging security concerns, the Centre today launched the multi-purpose "National Identity Card" at Narela in the capital city as part of a pilot project which may eventually be extended throughout the country by issuing a chip-based smart ID cards to all the citizens.

Registrar General of India Devender Kumar Sikri presented the first card to a woman resident of Narela in north-west Delhi.

Home Ministry sources said the remaining 2.4 million citizens, who are covered under the Rs 44.36-crore pilot project in selected sub-districts of 12 states and one Union territory, would receive the card by post before July this year.

"The card would give the citizen a 16-digit ID number and would be delivered by Indian Post in a tamper-proof customised cover that is both waterproof and able to sustain extreme temperatures," an official of the Registrar General of India said.

Costing Rs 60 each, the ID card will carry basic details across several parametres, including educational qualification, place of birth, photograph and fingerprints of the holder.

A few details would be visible on the card. The remaining information would be stored in the 16-kbs chip on the card that can be read only with a reader.

The card is also aimed at helping the e-governance by improving the citizen-Government interface.'' ''This is a secure card,'' the sources said, pointing out that it is being introduced on the basis of the recommendations of a Technical Committee constituted by the Government.

This committee has representatives from prestigious institutions such as National Informatics Centre (NIC), IIT Kanpur, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Indian Telephone Industries Limited (ITI) and Electronics Corporation India Limited (ECIL) and Intelligence Bureau (IB).

The scheme will be implemented in the entire country after taking into account the experiences gained and lessons learnt from the pilot project, which was launched in 2003 when the BJP-led NDA government was in power.

Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Asom, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Goa, Delhi and Tamil Nadu and Union territory of Puducherry were covered under the pilot project.

UNI