UIDAI Act draft in a month, says Nilekani

A draft bill on the Unique Identity Project would be made public within the next one month, chairman of UIDAI Nandan Nilekani said on Tuesday. "We need an Act to govern a regulatory body like UIDAI. The draft of the Act will be put for public discussion in the next four weeks," he told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industries function in New Delhi.

Nilekani also said the UIDAI, recently renamed 'Aadhar' which aims to provide a unique identity to the residents of the country by next year, needs to partner with various agencies like the Registrar General of India for a "universal coverage" of the exercise.

"You need multiple partners for a variety of reasons and a universal coverage for the UIDAI," he said during an interactive session on the Unique Identification Number.

Nilekani said that the UIDAI will not be mandatory for a resident because "if it becomes mandatory, it will become exclusive and if someone does not have it, he will be denied something (social benefits)," he said.

He also said that he is aware about the problems posed by rough fingers while preparing a biometric identity. "Finger prints alone will not give us uniqueness. The issue of callous fingers is there. . . the iris match will help us in such cases, "Nilekani said while replying to a question from a CII member.

The UIDAI is also working closely with the Census authorities for preparation of the National Population Register (NPR).

The second stage of NPR will helpful in making the biometric Unique Identity (UID), he said.