Dispelling fears that the biometric technology being employed for the Aadhaar project is flawed, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) today asserted that its system is reliable and can achieve the task of providing unique ID cards to the entire population of the country.
"Based on the analysis, the UIDAI confirms that the enrolment system has proven to be reliable, accurate and scalable to meet the nation's need of providing unique Aadhaar numbers to the entire population," the UIDAI said.
Amid concerns raised by the Home Ministry about the quality of data collected by the UIDAI, which could be a security threat, the body today released a report titled, 'The Role of Biometric technology in Aadhaar Enrolment', which confirms the high degree of accuracy of biometrics used in the UID project in the context of the large-scale enrolment across India.
The Planning Commission and the Home Ministry are at loggerheads over the need for the UID project, with both putting forward their respective points of view to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The controversy is centred on the collection of biometric data of all residents. While the Home Ministry has maintained that data collected by the Registrar General of India for the National Population Register should form the basis for issuance of unique ID cards, the Planning Commission has reposed faith in the data collected by the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI.
The Union Cabinet is likely to discuss the proposal for allowing the UIDAI to continue its work beyond the mandated 200 million enrolments tomorrow.