May I know your good ‘Number’ Please……. [huh??!]

Here’s new on ‘personnel’ related infra, its called ‘Aadhaar’- a project by UIDAI [Unique Identification Authority of India], UIDAI is a office setup under the planning commission.

‘Aadhaar’ is a project to allot a 12 digit Unique Identification Numbers to all citizens in India. Here’s more on it:

Why the Numbers:
We are a very unique nation in more than many ways, including our problems. There are two major themes leading to why there is a dire need for a clear, precise and transparent identification system:

1. To be able to identify the actual people for whom the Govt. designs socialistic schemes [be it education, public distribution system, commercial subsidies or any of the likes] vis-à-vis who and how much of dissemination actually reaches.

•  Actual identification of the poor [Below Poverty Line- BPL] for any Government initiatives i.e.  identification of TA [Target Audience - for non savvy folks].
• Identity of this kinds helps TA in many ways, most of these people lack proper identity documents refraining to be able to avail basics like cell phone connections, access to banking network, back ground checks for employment, rationing entitlements to name a few.
• To check ‘pilferage’ from the socialist schemes [these very obviously happen] you see the tax payers pay for such schemes and hence it becomes necessary to identify who actually reaps those benefits [actual TA or the distribution machinery itself or someone who’s managed to ‘con’ the distribution machinery – thanks to invention of under table processes for procuring identity documents ]

2. To restrict entry in/ access to country’s stream for people with illegitimate backdrops/ purposes
• Irony of the situation here is at the time when people BPL find it agonizing to obtain and produce proof on their genuine identity [read existence] we have a whole lot of people with convenient access to procure identity documents [a lot of ‘media sting operations’ have proven this]. So your native domestic help might struggle but a sleeping cell doesn’t.

Commerce behind this:
• Budget Allocation for the project is a whooping INR 19 Billion
• Though the projects seems in ‘bidding’ stages, this means serious business to IT and Connectivity service providers- once the bids open a lot of ‘order books’ will call your attention.
• Completion [though phased] will optimistically mean more savings flowing back into the economy increasing retail banking base and hopefully tax payers base as well.

Time-lines:
Project completion target is August 2015 for all 600 mn IDs to be issued, dissemination of the first set starts somewhere between August 2010 and Feb 2011.

Kudos, How this would do us good:
• A lot of developed countries entitle ‘social security’ based on this model
• People BPL don’t such face lack of infrastructure but also a double whammy of relatively expensive access to basic amenities/ distribution, this is far fletched effect of ‘pilferage’, so subsidized infra is moved out of the public distribution and moves into the blacks and is sold higher than market prices, this is not just ration, it holds good for reserved quotas for education/ travel, industrial/ agricultural subsidies and Credits.
• Since we check pilferage, we check corruption and to top it up we identify people we can not track as non-citizens.

Lows:
Well the thought is noble and some noble thoughts do really sail through to reality…..

Referring to the other groups of the likes of: the MAPIN fiasco years ago, PAN holders [i.e. identified tax paying population] vis-à-vis people who actually make money in the land, KYCs and how far they get, Ration cards issued pitched against rationing proceeds or against the grey/ black market.

Coming from a country that survives on crisis management and crisis managers being looked upto, there’s little too early to talk about the virtues of planning and courage to plot plans vis-à-vis execution on the same plane. Despite that India’s growth and potential is recognized globe over and there seems no stopping the Asian giant where it comes to Infra development either.

Moreover, Govt’s initiative increased spending towards infrastructure development shows commitment. Hoping ‘Aadhaar’ lives up on the execution front as well, we’ll soon see ourselves quoting our numbers.