India looking to biometrics to solve national ID issue
20 July, 2009
category: Biometrics, Government
As India is attempting to find a way to be able to identify each of the 1.2 billion in their population, many of whom do not have access to standard forms of identification, the country is looking towards instituting a national ID program that would utilize biometrics, according to an Associated Press article.
The project is being planned on behalf of the Indian government by the founder of Infosys Technologies, Nandan Nilekani.
The intention for the project is to not only make recognizable identification accessible to all, but foolproof as well, as low-income Indians frequently need to use forms of identification that are unreliable such as old voter’s cards and bills. The first IDs are scheduled to be issued in about a year, but they expect a complete roll-out of the IDs to take multiple years.
Read the full story here.