From The Times July 15, 2009

India to issue all 1.2 billion citizens with biometric ID cards

Millions of Indians who live in remote rural areas will finally have proof of their existence thanks to biometric identity cards
Rhys Blakely in Mumbai
It is surely the biggest Big Brother project yet conceived. India is to issue each of its 1.2 billion citizens, millions of whom live in remote villages and possess no documentary proof of existence, with cyber-age biometric identity cards.

The Government in Delhi recently created the Unique Identification Authority, a new state department charged with the task of assigning every living Indian an exclusive number. It will also be responsible for gathering and electronically storing their personal details, at a predicted cost of at least £3 billion.

The task will be led by Nandan Nilekani, the outsourcing sage who coined the phrase “the world is flatâ€