First lot of India's unique IDs to be issued in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district

The Unique Identification Authority of India (Aadhar will release the first set of Unique Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, on 29 September.
 
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will launch the issue nationally and dedicate the Unique ID Mission to the nation at a ceremony by distributing the first set of numbers among the villagers.

The Unique ID Authority of India, set up in August 2009, was expected to issue the first set of Unique ID numbers in 12 to 18 months. With the infrastructure for the complex project in place, the Unique ID Mission expects to achieve its goal of on-time delivery.

The UID Mission has been set up to deliver Unique Identification Numbers (Aadhaar) to every resident in the country. It also aims to establish a cost-effective, ubiquitous authentication infrastructure to easily verify these identities online and in real-time.

The Aadhaar number is intended to ease the difficulties in identification, especially of the poorest and the most marginalised, who face challenges in accessing various public benefit programs due to the lack of possessing a clear identity proof.

The UIDAI will use biometric attributes like fingerprints and iris, which will be linked to the Aadhar number. This will help agencies and service providers across India clean out duplicates and fakes from their databases.

The Aadhaar number will also enable the delivery of various services at the grass root level in a cost effective and efficient way.