India: New Steps to Tackle an Old Problem

Indians are less gullible now (New York Times)

They have far greater expectations from the government, and the state has more money to spend on them. There is genuine political will, too. The middle class is now claiming that its heart bleeds for the poor and that poverty is a direct consequence of political corruption, and so the government must be humiliated. The news media have been granting these wishes almost daily between commercials. So the government really does have good reasons to cure poverty.
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India’s battle against poverty is as old as its national identity, and it has achieved reasonable success, especially in the last two decades. Among the stark tokens of absolute poverty that have disappeared are those lumbering human beings with deformities and injuries that made grown men shut their eyes and children remember forever.

The quoted text above doesn't mention biometrics, but the article is about India's UID program. Read the whole thing. The article relates India's recent history, poverty, culture and government to each other in a tight package. ID management is about people.