The first set of national identity cards under the Pilot Project on Multi-purpose National Identity Card (MNIC) was handed over to the citizens of Pooth Khurd at Narela by Shri D.K. Sikri, Registrar General, India & Registrar General of Citizens Registration, here today.

A Pilot Project to understand and develop the processes for collection and management database of citizens as well as for smart card technology has been under implementation in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and in the union territory of Pondicherry. The Pilot Project on MNIC has followed the census approach for collection of particulars of each individual in the pilot areas. Along with the particulars of individuals, photographs and finger biometrics have also been collected of all those who are 18 years of age and above.

For management of citizens database, 20 centers have been set up, one at each Tehsil/Block headquarters equipped with computer terminals and on-line connectivity. The back-end management of these centers has been out-sourced to Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The personalization of cards has been entrusted to the Consortium of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) comprising Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Electronics Corporations of India Limited (ECIL) and Indian Telephone Industries (ITI). The design of the card has been prepared with the help of National Institute of Design and carries a unique National Identity Number (NIN) for each of the citizens.

The identity card being given to each individual citizen, has a micro processor chip with a memory of 16 KB which is a secure card. Besides having several physical features into the design of the card, it is the cyber security using 'asymmetric key cryptography' and 'symmetric key cryptography' that has made the card secure against the risk of tempering and cloning. The National Informatics Centre has made a major contribution towards developing the processes for database management and smart card technology.

The rest of the citizens in the pilot areas shall be delivered cards by post for which special arrangements have been made with the Department of Posts for delivery. The cards will be sent to them in a packet which is tear-proof, temper-proof and waterproof. This has been specially designed for this project. (PIB)