France offers expertise for UID project

With its success in a similar task, France today offered expertise to India for its challenging project of allotting Unique Identification (UID) Number to 1.2 billion people in a single database.

Maintaining that "never before in political history has India and France been so close and so intimate," French Ambassador to India Jerome Bonnafont said the Embassy was committed to support India's UID project.

"India's UID program is today the world's most challenging and ambitious transformation program. France has in recent years successfully launched it's Unique Social Security Number project and the experience in implementing the project can help India's UID program.

"We would be very happy to be partners in this experience," Bonnafont said.

The French envoy was speaking at the inauguration of "Unique Identity Workshop" organised by the French Embassy and Smartcard Forum of India (SCAFI) as an initiative to share the French experience in Unique Identification programs with key stakeholders of India's UID project.

"UID program in India is more unique because the number of people to be covered under the scheme is almost incredible," Bonnafont said.

Personal Identity Number system began in France in 1941 with a primary objective to organise recruitment of men in the army and has subsequently evolved as an important tool of social security among other uses, said Michel Villac, French government expert on Unique Number systems.

Headed by the former co-chairman of Infosys Nandan Nilekani, the Unique Identification Number program in India was started in February 2009 with an aim to primarily help the poor and illiterate easily avail the benefits of various welfare schemes.

"The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has already started signing MoUs with various states including Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh for delivery mechanism," said Deputy Director General of UIDAI, B B Nanawati.