UID cards: Data collection to be expedited

KOCHI: The authorities with the Akshaya project have decided to expedite the process of collecting data and biometrics for issuing Unique Identification (UID) cards. They have taken measures to increase the number of processing applications a month to 20,000.Now, the number of applications being processed a month is around 5,000. “Till now, we have processed around one lakh applications. We have decided to expedite the process,” said Korath V Mathew, director of Akshaya Programme.  According to the state government, enrolment of UID cards will be completed in a year. Aadhar, the UID project, was launched in Kerala on February 24.  “Full enrolment will enable the state government to get many benefits from the Central Government and the citizens will be able to take the maximum advantage from these schemes.“ The UID project will also help us identify the real beneficiaries of such schemes,” he said.Recently the state government had approved Rs1.4 crore to cover the administrative cost of the project. An amount of Rs 49.5 crore will be paid at Rs 150 per BPL family for enrolling in the UID programme. The UID enrolment in Kerala was delayed because of the dispute over the use of proprietary software by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Kerala is the first state to implement Aadhar using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). All other states use proprietary software for enrolment. In Kerala, the state government is the UID Registrar and the IT Mission is the nodal agency. Besides Akshaya, KELTRON and IT@School have been appointed to do the enrolment. While Akshaya is handling the enrolment in rural areas, KELTRON and IT@School are the implementing agencies for the urban areas and schools respectively.