UIDAI to set up biometrics centre

The proposed centre is under discussion and would come up in Bangalore

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is authorised to issue unique identification numbers (Aadhaar) to the citizens of India, is setting up a Biometrics Centre of Competence for doing research in human fingerprint and iris patterns.

Speaking at the Financial Inclusion Conclave, 2014, Ashok Dalwai, UIDAI deputy director general -Bangalore region, said the centre would collaborate with other international centres to understand the related technology.

Its establishment is still under discussion and would be coming up in Bangalore, he told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting.

While the general conception is that the fingerprint or the iris patterns would not change over the time, the centre has to study it further to collect the data.

He added the UIDAI was also planning to increase the last-mile connectivity in rural areas through business correspondents. This would ensure financial inclusion as well as reduce the pilferage in subsidies offered by the government.

R Thyagarajan, founder and chairman of Shriram Group, who was addressing the conclave, said that the promoting entrepreneurship is the ideal way for better financial inclusion and command and control as part of regulation is killing entrepreneurship.

He said that the institutions like chit funds and the micro finance institutions has contributed considerably to the financial inclusion and it was the entrepreneurship by a few individuals were majorly responsible for the financial inclusion.