Home ministry accepts UIDAI’s biometrics; in case of overlap, National Population Register will prevail The Aadhaar project, which has been in the eye of a storm for its dispute with the home ministry’s National Population Register (NPR), received a shot in the arm on Friday, with the Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) extending its mandate to collect biometrics for a total of 600 million residents of the...

Further work likely to be done by an agency to be designated by Centre The curtains will come down on enrolments for Aadhaar, the Central government's ambitious unique identification programme, by February 15 at all 2,245 enrolment centres across Karnataka. A letter sent to Deputy Commissioners, in 23 districts where Aadhaar is being rolled out, by the State department of e-governance, informs them of the decision to stop enrolments, adding that “further...

-The Telegraph   The Planning Commission and the home ministry appeared headed for a compromise on the unique identity project after the Prime Minister stepped in today to end the smart card versus identity number battle. Sources said Nandan Nilekani, who is chairing the unique identification authority, would be given a free run and the home ministry would be allowed to continue its work even if it means some duplication. “The overall message is...

-CNN-IBN   The Cabinet Committee is meeting on Friday to discuss the Unique ID project row. Sources have indicated that a compromise has been reached. Both the Nandan Nilekani-led Unique ID Authority of India and the Registrar General of India will be carrying out parallel exercises to collect biometric data, they say. While the UIDAI will do it in 13 states, the Registrar General of India will collect data in coastal areas and...

In a compromise formula worked out at an informal meeting today, it has been proposed that the biometrics collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) would be accepted by the home ministry-backed National Population Register (NPR), and the two teams would work at their own pace with minimum duplication of biometric data.   A final decision will be taken on Friday when the cabinet committee on UID meets to discuss...