Nilekani says 600 million citizens to get UID in next 4-5-years

Mumbai, Sep 9 (ANI): Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chief Nandan Nilekani said on Wednesday that at least 60 crore people would get their identity cards in next five years.

"We expect to give Unique Identification Numbers (UIDs) to at least 600 million citizens in the next 4-5-years. It is a challenging job and we are managing multiple risks," said Nilekani.

The Union Government has set up the UIDAI to undertake the UID project.

Nilekani said the initiative would help in providing transparent, effective and transformational governance.

Speaking at a FICCI-IBA Banking summit here, Nilekani said the authority would issue the first UID in the next 12-18-months.

He Nilekani banks are a key partner in the project and they can be registrars as well as users of the authentication service.

Under the project, UIDAI will be issuing numbers to each and every citizen of the country but not cards, he said, adding that the issuance of the number will be demand-led. (ANI)