UID PROJECT FACES HICCUPS
Namrata Biji Ahuja,
The Asian Age
The ambitious unique identity number project of the UPA-2 government, which has been earmarked Rs 120 crore in the Union Budget, is facing hiccups. Government sources admitted that while the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) led by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has settled the issues regarding creation of data, the mandate for making of cards is so far neither with the Registrar-General of India (RGI) nor with the Planning Commission. The appointment of the Cabinet-ranked chief of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Nandan Nilekani has further created confusion over the allocation and distribution of work between the various authorities.
"The RGI has said that certain decisions needed to be taken at the top level for any further and final plan of action vis-à-vis the UIDAI, NRA (National Registration Authority) and the NPR (National Population Registry)," revealed sources. The RGI, under the ministry of home affairs, is responsible for all work related to collection of Census data.
The sticky points in the UID project, which is part of the 100-day action plan of the MHA, came to surface at a recent meeting held in July to review the progress of the scheme. It was noted that the EGoM has been unable to decide whether to place the NRA under the Planning Commission or any other ministry. Similarly, a decision is also pending on when to make the NRA a statuary body, sources said. A meeting is likely to take place soon between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission and Nilekani to resolve the confusion.
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