The Unique Identification Authority of India certainly has its job cut out for it. Since the revelation that every Indian would be getting a unique identification number, WATBlog has covered the developments. The inclusion of prolific technocrat Nandan Nilekani as the head incharge of the panel ushers in the prospect of new governance – where corporate ingenuity and technical expertise is appreciated. However, the most troubling aspect of it all is the concept of the database. How do you document 1 billion individuals. Let’s start small. In an interview, Mr. Nilekani stated that first few million would be out in a few months. Here’s an interesting article I read on how he could begin.
So, what are his options? Voter ID cards, Ration Cards, Drivers Licenses, PAN (Personal Account Numbers), Passports? Even a comprehensive list is small. And the demographic could be overlapping. The difficulty is the verification. The widespread reach of the ration and the voter ID, though beneficial, lacks the veracity to assist in the compilation of a huge database. So what could work?
Apart from voter ID cards, an ingenious idea to begin with is the mobile subscriber list. Guru Malladi, partner, Ernst & Young says, “You get 40 percent penetration straightaway and this data has been verified by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). Now, we’ve been remarking at the penetration of mobiles into rural regions with over a 100 million subscribers. And the mobile boom in India is just starting. Tally all the numbers and you get a whopping 427 mobile connections. Close to 40% of the population.
Of course, connections do not mean individuals. Discounting multiple connections (estimates of 10% – Gartner), assuming 5-10% are invalid (Department of Telecommunications recent audit), and 5% of connections used by companies for business operations, the number still comes to a good 350 million.
The demographics will obviously overlap, but with a difference. If looking at an age group of 15-30, chances are he might not have a registered Voter ID, but he definitely has a mobile connection. Combine the two databases, remove the duplicated entries, cross-verify, and experts estimate that a conservative 300 million should still be bona-fide.
Let’s try and put the figure in perspective and you understand how important your mobile connection can be. At WATBlog, we’ve discussed mobile commerce, we’ve talked about the growth of mobile VAS and SMS payments. But this suggestion by an author from Forbes could be well proof of the potential your SIM card has.
We open the question to readers. What other dependable databases are there, assuming as widespread an outreach as possible?
