The unique identification project is looking to enroll 400 million more people under Aadhar, according to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani. Apart from that, one of the authority’s pilot projects is aimed at banking portability, similar to the mobile number portability.
Aadhar, which is enrolling at the rate of 1 million people a day, has already registered 200 million and is targeting to enroll 600 million people by 2014.
The authority has taken a short break before moving on to the next level. ?We are taking a six-week hiatus, because we want to refresh and look at our entire technological process to ensure that we roll out even better than now,? Nilekani said on the sidelines of Nasscom?s India Leadership Forum 2012. ?Despite the recent controversies surrounding it, the project is progressing well,? he added. Aadhar enrollment will be free until December 2013.
The UIDAI is currently running a pilot programme with the rural development ministry for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. It is also working on pension schemes in Jharkhand, and operating a pilot project for opening bank accounts in Tumkur near Bangalore. ?We are working with banks to build new models of micro payments,? Nilekani said. People enrolled under Aadhar can go to any ?banking correspondent? to withdraw money from a ‘micro ATM’ and the system will alert the person?s bank to deduct that amount. ?It will create bank portability, something similar to mobile number portability,? he said.
Aadhar is looking at enlarging its scope from pure government and financial sector to services and other sectors. The authority is working on a pilot project in Mysore with oil and gas companies for LPG or cooking gas supply and is also looking at a mobile verification project in Hyderabad. ?The important thing is that apart from enrollments the big shift that you are seeing now is the move towards applications so that this can become useful to the common man,? Nilekani said.