If the government has its way, in three years, you have will have another card to boast of – a unique national identity card.
Already, the government allows the use of passport, PAN card, voter’s ID card, ration card and driving licence as valid identification proofs. Thanks to the new pension scheme there is another card – the Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) – though it is not a valid ID proof at the moment.
So, what do you produce when someone wants to check your identity? If past experience is anything to go by, the list of possible cards for identity proof will only get longer.
Making the unique identification number the only ID proof does not look possible in three years given the chances of creating a political uproar. Besides, the government has been rather inefficient in issuing cards such as the voter’s ID. Even now the entire voting population is not covered. Many among the lucky ones have cards where the details are wrongly entered and getting it rectified is a nightmare.
But what it will mean is that I can get away with having five different addresses since there is no common database with the government to cross-check the information that I provide. For instance, the address on my passport can be different the one on the PAN card. Similarly, the voter’s ID can have a third address and the address on the driving licence can be the same as the one I gave 15 years ago.
Given the difficulties in obtaining each of the IDs — barring PAN, where issuance has now been simplified, and PRAN – many of us dread the thought of getting the details changed whenever we shift homes.
So, how does it help? In the long run, the idea is to shift to one identification number. But how long is the long run is anybody’s guess.
What it does mean is that there is plenty of business for companies that are in the business of making cards. Apart from the national ID, the government is also working on a biometric PAN card where seven companies have been shortlisted and each one would tell you that the other one does not have the experience in issuing cards and certainly not on the scale that is required.
Maybe, it’s time that a central database is created and all the cards are combined into one. It will not only be easier for us to carry but also for the authorities once the scheme is implemented fully
CAclubindia
