The Unique ID Project in India: An Exploratory Study

The issues of concern around the UID scheme, are largely based on the issues of principles and practicalities. The issues of principles, are basically the rationale to carry out an identification scheme and its possible repercussions on certain abstract notions such as privacy. The issues of practicalities specifically refer to the infallibility of the biometrics technology to fix identity beyond doubt. It is also about the functioning of the technology in its application areas primarily in the social security schemes like the Public Distribution System. The contextualising of the UID scheme makes a firm case for the study of the global experiences of identification projects. The study of international experiences of such projects puts into perspective the nature, objectives, causes and challenges of the scheme.