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29 July 2011

India's UID program - "Aadhaar" set for the big leap :JPMorgan

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Yesterday evening we attended a CFA organized event where Govindraj
Ethiraj shared his views on “UIDs – A billion opportunities”. He is
currently the Head of Industry Outreach at the Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI), Planning Commission, Government of India.
Overall the impression we got is that the progress so-far has been
impressive and the team seems to be ably committed to convert this dream
into a reality ahead of the schedule.
 Aadhaar - Unique identification project was initially conceived by the
Planning Commission as an initiative that would provide identification
for each resident across the country and would be used primarily as the
basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. It would also act as a tool
for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the
Government.
 Accelerating pace of roll out. The pace of UID enrolment has gained
momentum over the last year and is on its way to issue 1mn UID per day
from October 2011. In the last one year, more than 15 mn UIDs have
been issued and Govind highlighted that the process is getting more and
more streamlined. It’s a herculean task as the process has to ensure that
there is no duplication, which involves huge amount of processing
power. There is a concept of “Introducer”, where people not having any
residential proof can also get an UID on the reference from an introducer
having an UID. State Governments are showing huge interest in the
project and are facilitating a fast roll out. As of now, Andhra Pradesh is
leading the pack with 5.7 mn UIDs.
 Noble and far reaching Implications – Financial inclusion is one of the
key priorities of UID. The Central bank has modified the KYC norms for
banks and made an UID a sufficient document for opening a no-frills
bank account. Additionally, Bank of India has already issued “RuPay”
card linked to UID; through this card, an accountholder can transact by
giving a thumb impression at a terminal manned by a business
correspondent in the rural areas while it can act like a conventional card
at an ATM. Also, the UID can be used to link all the other financial
products like Insurance, Provident Fund, Bank accounts, etc.
 Direct Targeting of Subsidies was conceptually the main objective for
the Planning commission for UID. Govind emphasized the inefficiency
and loop holes in the current system. In response to a query on practical
timeline for direct cash transfer, he mentioned that surprisingly, state
Govts have ambitious targets and there is a deadline as early as
December 2011 for LPG subsidy transfer in a district in Andhra Pradesh.
The linking of various IDs is going to be huge IT assignment but once
implemented, this could certainly help in better governance.


Strong foundation of “Aadhaar”
Yesterday evening we attended a CFA organized event where Govindraj Ethiraj
shared his views on “UIDs – A billion opportunities”. He is currently the Head of
Industry Outreach at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Planning
Commission, Government of India. Overall the impression we got is that the
progress so-far has been impressive and the team seems to be ably committed to
convert this dream into a reality ahead of the schedule
Aadhaar - Unique identification project was initially conceived by the Planning
Commission as an initiative that would provide identification for each resident across
the country and would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare
services. It would also act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and
schemes of the Government. Mr. Nandan Nilekani (Ex CEO, Infosys) joined the
UIDAI as its Chairman on 23 July 2009.
Accelerating pace of roll out. The pace of UID enrolment has gained momentum
over the last year and is on its way to issue 1mn UID per day from October 2011. In
last one year, more than 15 mn UIDs have been issued and Govind highlighted that
the process is getting more and more streamlined. It’s a herculean task as the process
also has to ensure that there is no duplication, which involves huge amount of
processing power. Aadhaar id is a 12 digit random number assigned to an individual
based on ten-finger print and Iris reading. There is a concept of “Introducer”, where
people without any residential proof can get an UID on the reference from an
introducer having an UID. State Governments are showing huge interest in the
project and are facilitating a fast roll out. As of now, Andhra Pradesh is leading the
pack with 5.7 mn UIDs; there are a few districts there with over 80% population
having UID.


Noble and far reaching Implications – Financial inclusion is one of the key
priorities of UID. The Central bank has modified the KYC norms for banks and
made an UID a sufficient document for opening a no-frills bank account. For banking
services there is an open tender for each area and banks have been lapping it up due
to their obligations under financial inclusion. Additionally, Bank of India has already
issued “RuPay” card linked to UID, through this card, an accountholder can transact
by giving thumb impression at a terminal manned by a business correspondent in the
rural areas while it can act like a conventional card at an ATM. Also, the UID can be
used to link all the other financial products like insurance, Provident Fund, bank
account etc. He also highlighted that 80% of the people in one Andhra district came
for UID enrollment with an objective of opening of bank account which they could
not do otherwise.
Direct Targeting of Subsidies. This was conceptually the main objective for the
Planning commission for UID. Govind emphasized the inefficiency and loop holes in
the current system with an example of Goa where total population is 1.2 mn with 1.5
mn individuals registered below poverty line for access to subsidized food from
Public Distribution System (PDS). In response to a query on practice timeline for
direct cash transfer, he mentioned that surprisingly, state Govts have ambitious
targets and there is a deadline of December 2011 for LPG subsidy transfer in Tumkur
district. State governments are also showing interest in integration of UIDs for PDS,
NREGA, Voter ID, Bank accounts, etc. The linking of various IDs is going to be
huge IT assignment but oncee implemented, this could help in better governance.




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