India at the verge of creating world's largest biometric database

摘要

As the year 2011 fast approaches, India is preparing itself for creating world's largest biometric database by providing every citizen with a 12-digit unique number, which will be stored in a central database - the largest of its kind ever created - along with photographs, fingerprints and iris scans. The government plans to issue Unique Identification (UID) numbers to 600 million people by 2014. The project involves an expenditure of about Rs.3,023 crore, which includes project components for the issue of UID (Aadhaar) numbers by March 2011, and recurring establishment costs for the entire project phase of five years ending March 2014.