Unique identification for Indians: a divine dream or miscalculated heroism

Abstract

Happy New Fear” – that was how a placard held by some of the students of the Indian Institute of Science read. It was a part of a silent demonstration outside the gate of the Institute, earlier this year after the UIDAI Chairman visited the Institute for a talk (Kelekar, 2011). The Government of India, had announced the creation of the Unique ID Authority of India (UIDAI) to generate the largest IT project of the globe – the Unique ID (UID) project – with an aim to provide a unique twelve digit number to 1.2 billion residents of India.