IN A small village north-west of Bangalore, peasants queue for identities. Each man fills in a form with his name and rough date of birth, or gets someone who can read to do it for him. He places his fingertips on one scanner and stares at another. A photograph of his face is snapped. These images are uploaded to a computer. Within a few weeks he will have an identity...

C.Chandramouli, registrar general and census commissoner of India, is on the threshold of one of the most challenging months of his career. As the head of an army of 2.7 million enumerators who will fan out for almost a month beginning 9 February, Chandramouli talked to Mint about the methods and controversies of the second phase of India’s 15th census exercise. Edited excerpts: The National Population Register (NPR) seems to be...

As the murder of Malegaon additional collector Yashwant Sonawane, allegedly by the oil mafia, once again highlights the illegal diversion of public distribution system (PDS) kerosene to the open market and industrial units, Punjab seems to have found its answer in Nandan Nilekani’s UID scheme, Adhaar. This March, as the state begins an enrollment drive to give its estimated 2.8 crore population a unique 12-digit identity, the number will also provide...

Strategic partnership forged for registration, distribution of UID cards The Department of Posts on Friday announced a strategic partnership with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for registration and distribution of unique identification (UID) cards to citizens. The UIDAI will leverage the DoP national network for its unique identity project AADHAR. The two organisations will also collaborate to provide state-of-the-art biometric and identity authentication services. “The government sees UID as a critical...

It has served as a tool to ease tension in Kandhamal and ethnic conflict among Manipur's tribal groups Officials rewarded for ingenuity at function celebrating completion of five years of MGNREGS Eight District Magistrates from across India rewarded for efforts in their respective districts Pepping up the rural economy, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is also a magic wand for reducing tensions and forging social unity and bonding family...