Database of startups in India

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique number which the UIDAI will issue for all residents in India (on a voluntary basis). The number will be stored in a centralized database and linked to the basic demographics and biometric information – photograph, ten fingerprints and iris – of each individual.

However, when it comes to rollout, it again seems a case of right intention but faulty execution.

Get your value proposition clear

By looking at the name, the UID is an identification mechanism. It’s original intention was to provide every resident Indian with a unique identifier that could link to other numbers like PAN, bank accounts, etc. to slowly build a common profile.

Looking at it purely with that lens, why do you need to collect an address with it?

Yes, I know a lot of you will disagree with this, but think about it. Even in urban India, providing your ‘permanent address’ is an arduous task if you are a nomad like me who has shifted 6 residences in the last 10 years. Now think of the millions of Indians who have no documentary proof of where they stay. How much more difficult will it be for them to prove their address? In a system meant to be inclusive for all Indians, shouldn’t this have been optional?

The value proposition is also muddied by states adding their own requirements. Get your gas connection verified with Aadhar. Get Ration Card and all BPL benefits also certified. And so on.

Point is: none of these are related to identification. There’s already much confusion about UID with stories of how people have gotten their Aadhar number and realized that it serves no purpose. There has been chatter about how UID can help direct cash transfers by the government, but this logic falls flat – UID collects no income data.

What if the value proposition was clear – UID is only an authentication number.

To highlight the use of an authentication token, a partner like a bank or PDS for a direct cash transfer to immediately accept the UID, verify identity, ask for additional details and take action. If there were enough partners for this scheme, the utility would be clear.

Keep processes simple to save time and effort

The UID was planned as an pan-India rollout, to enroll over a billion people. While that seems about as many folks on Facebook, consider the other elements of UID. For each enrollment, UID collects fingerprints of left and right hands, both thumb prints and an iris scan. The collection is just the first phase of the process. During collection, the prints need to be matched against the existing database to pinpoint duplicates. That in itself is a huge process, given the scale of comparisons to be done when the database grows to a few hundred million entries.

But once the collection is largely complete, the UID functions only as an authenticator – return as true/false result when you claim to be who you are.