India: We have a lift off

2,000 beneficiaries get cash transfers via Aadhaar on Day 1 (Business Standard)

After initial hiccups, the government’s ambitious direct benefits transfer programme through a unique identification number kicked off smoothly today, though the number of transactions carried out by the banks on the first day remained low. About 2,000 beneficiaries were transferred an amount of Rs 35 lakh on the Aadhaar platform, but the figure is expected to go up tomorrow. The programme is aimed at covering two lakh beneficiaries.

Photo of UID taking off. Source: NASA

After several years of preparation and on-the-ground effort, the National Payments Corporation of India disbursed the first government payments directly to individuals using the UID (Aadhaar) platform. This is a big deal.

We've repeatedly used the "moon shot" metaphor here to describe the ID management projects India has been working on for the last several years.

The audio and video of UID won't be as dramatic. The narrative won't be as clear-cut. There won't be a cathartic moment where a "one giant step" speech is appropriate. So, in this sense, UID falls short of the metaphor. [The audio of the Apollo 11 launch that inspired this post's title is here (NASA.gov; 1 min.)]

But if the UID project succeeds it will have overcome daunting technical, logistical and managerial challenges to have a tangible effect on the material well being of hundreds of millions of people, awakening the rest of the developing world to new possibilities to simultaneously help the most vulnerable and reduce the corruption that keeps much of the world poor. Few government initiatives could boast of as much.

UID also reminds me of the great global efforts to eradicate small pox and polio in that they had to, quite literally, touch everyone.

India: West Bengal state adopts biometric ID for jobs program

Indian State Spends USD 18.5 mil on ICT in Welfare Scheme (Future Gov) 
ICT = Information and communications technology

On the 7th of September, the West Bengal state government in India confirmed a Rs. 103-crore (US$18.5 million) contract for end-to-end ICT services to streamline the e-governance applications of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in West Bengal.

MGNREGS, the central government’s flagship social welfare programme, guarantees a minimum of 100 days of employment every year to adult members of rural households who are willing to perform public-service manual labour at minimum wage.

Increasing transparency and efficiency in social programs is important to maintaining their legitimacy amidst allegations of corruption. Biometrics can help and have been deployed successfully to meet identical goals in Andhra Pradesh.

300 beggars pin hopes on unique identification number (Times of India)

"Officials said every person had a right to identity and facilities accruing from that and beggars as legitimate citizens deserved it. Based on the card, they're entitled to necessities which will be distributed on the basis of Below Poverty Line definition."

Without a legitimate identity, it's hard to guarantee rights.

Empirical Data Support UID as a Means for Reaching the Poor

Read the whole thing...
Study Shows Unique ID’s Reach to India’s Poor (Wall Street Journal)

The data, released exclusively to India Real Time, shows that more than 56% of the enrollees in the program so far did not previously have a “portable ID” such as a passport, driver’s license or PAN (Permanent Account Number) card. And 87% of those households have annual income below $2,000 per year, confirming what many social scientists and journalists have long assumed – that the people without good identity documents tend to be lower-income earners.

Mr. Sundararajan said the results point to “excellent” targeting by the UID program so far. “It’s validation of the fact that this is not a digital infrastructure for the privileged. It’s for the people who aren’t included,” Mr. Sundararajan said.

According to the survey, more than 70% of all households (not just UID enrollees) have no member with a portable ID.

It's one thing to have an idea and think, "You know? That should work." It's quite another to have evidence that something is working.

At the very least the data suggest that poor people understand the value of a unique individual ID. They understand that a unique, legally-recognized individual identity is a prerequisite to any sort of decent life. They know it is an asset without which they cannot access many things those who already have an ID take for granted: education, adequate health care, social safety nets, the voting booth. Given the opportunity, they will leap at the chance to get one.

The study's findings are going to make it easier for the poor and other UID supporters going forward.

See also: India turns to technology to extend a guaranteed identity to its poor (CBC)

More on UID and the Poor

For India's Undocumented Citizens, An ID At Last (NPR)

One of those already enrolled is Gulab Chand Sharma. He works at a homeless shelter in New Delhi as a handyman. He also stays at the shelter. He is one of 30 migrant laborers living there who have signed up.

Sharma says he already feels more secure knowing he can identify himself if the police stop him. Also, since he has enrolled to get an ID, he has been able to get a mobile phone, which he couldn't get without one.

"I get many, many more jobs than before. Now people can call me if they need a driver, a mechanic or someone to serve at parties," Sharma says.

The radio story from Morning Edition is good, too.

Poorest of the Poor Expect to Benefit the Most from India's UID

This won't be new to regular readers but it can't be repeated often enough. World's biggest biometric ID scheme forges ahead (BBC)

Among those in the queue is Kamala, a daily wage labourer.

It's people like her, the poorest of the poor, who are expected to benefit the most from the UID. They have no proper identity papers and therefore no access to services such as subsidised food rations, a phone connection, even a bank account.

"It's so difficult to get anything done without a proper identity," she says. "We're often forced to pay bribes to get subsidised grains or fuel.

"With the UID I hope things will improve - we can buy cheap food and I can help educate my children."

Technically, the challenge India has set for itself — a unique, legitimate ID for every individual in society — reminds me of the polio mass immunization efforts of the 1950's and the goal is of no less importance.

A unique, legally recognized individual identity is a prerequisite for any sort of decent society. It is an infrastructure without which many things those in the developed world take for granted simply cannot exist: compulsory primary education, successful immunization against (and treatment of) preventable communicable disease, social safety nets, effective democracy, etc.

A legitimate ID is a prerequisite to full participation in the modern world.

UID Aadhar: Why Aadhar needs to succeed

Immense Impact on Rural India (IBN Live)

This project has the ability to reshape the way the poor in thecountry receive their benefits. The biometric data makes the identity exclusive and it also ensures that migrants within the country can get the benefits. Most of todays workers or lower middle class people are migrant workers. By bypassing the middleman, this could ensure that the benefits reach the people with limited leakages in the system. Considering that most of the corruption in the country is at the lower middle man level, the potential of this impact is massive. Unfortunately, most of the intellectual discussion has been polarizing and not inclusive. For example, if there are issues with the biometric testing, why are people talking about scrapping the entire thing rather than discussing about how it can be improved or made more robust? Another major concern is about the lack of a data privacy act. Being an advocate of stringent privacy laws, I agree with this view point. The issue I have here is why is the discussion again being polarized? Why can't the critics come up with a draft of a data privacy law which can aid the functioning of the UID? The concerns voiced by critics are no doubt valid. These concerns need to be addressed at the respective forums but being an active civil society; I think we need to adopt an inclusive approach to make the implementation of the concept of UID better. [emphasis mine]

It's hard not to notice that UID critics already have an ID.

See also:
"Many Ugandans, if you ask them, 'When were you born?' They say, 'I don't know.'" Poor ID Management Infrastructure Prevents Uganda Little League Baseball Team from World Series Participation

How Much Fraud is Acceptable in NPR, UID? How do you go from a situation where you have a billion people and no rigorous ID management to a system where everyone has a permanent, singular, legally-enforceable, government-backed identity?