Postal department to help spread of UIDAI

DoP and UIDAI Sign Statement of Intent for UID Number Delivery DoP Collaborates to Provide Complete Solution for the Purpose

Department of Posts signed  a Statement of Intent  here today  with Unique Identification Authority of India(UIDAI) in the presence of the Union  Minister of Communications and IT and the  Chairman of UIDAI. The main purpose of this Statement is to forge strategic alliance to create value for both the Department of Posts(DoP) and the UIDAI and for the residents of India.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of  Communications & IT said that this is a great moment in the history of India as the empowerment of villagers will take place through post offices. Post Office is the centre of activity for village community. He said India Post has geared itself to undertake this huge responsibility with due care and diligence.  Delivery of AADHAAR to each resident will be available for tracking and confirmation.     

Calling it a milestone agreement, Shri. Nandan Neilkeni, Chairman of UIDAI expressed appreciation for efficiency and dedication of Postal Department. He said this agreement is not tactical relation but strategical partnership. Aadhar based applications will be accessible through post offices. Simultaneously  DoP’s ambitious ICT upgradation plan for Post Offices will make end to end conversion happening.

Salient Features of Statement of Intent signed today are-

·                     UIDAI wishes to leverage the national network of the Department of Posts to provide Aadhaar and the accompany authentication services to all residents. 

·                     Department of Posts and UIDAI wish to collaborate to provide state of art bio-metric and ID authentication services to the residents.

·                     Providing of enrolment and updation facility to the residents of India in identified post offices across the country subject to economic & operational viability.

·                     Facilitating continuing Aadhaar enrolment and provision of up-dation centres across the network of Post Offices subject to feasibility & on mutually agreed terms         

·                     Transmission and delivery of UID letters to the residents of the country and providing proof of delivery of these letters through a service specially customized for UIDAI

·                     Use of Aadhaar and Aadhaar based authentication services in Postal business where deemed fit by Department of Posts;

·                     Sharing demographic and biometric data collected during enrolment for Aadhaar on mutually agreed terms & conditions;

·                     Utilizing Media Post and Direct Mail services of Department of Posts by the UIDAI to targeted group of residents across the country to promote Aadhar on mutually agreed terms & conditions.

·                     In a recognition of the fact that Aadhaar enablement may call for running Proof of Concept and Pilot projects both side agree to do so where deemed necessary and subject to mutual convenience. Such exercises as may be undertaken in pursuit of this understanding will endeavour to produce Detailed Project Reports which can be effectively used to scale up the projects on successful completion.

In view to leverage vast network of post offices across the country which touches each and every resident of the country, Department of Posts and UIDAI came together and signed first Memorandum of Understanding on 30^th April, 2010.  This MOU covers the following areas:-

a)       Printing of communication carrying UID Number addressed to the resident at Department of Posts ‘Print to Post’ facility at Kolkata GPO.

b)       Transmission of the UID communications printed at Department of Posts’ ‘Print to Post’ facility to the addressee by the fastest means.

c)       Delivery of the UID communication to the addressee through the vast network of post offices across the country.

Subsequently second Memorandum of Understanding  was signed on September 18, 2010 wherein Department of Posts agreed to act as Registrar to UIDAI.  UIDAI is in the process of shortlisting the Enrolment Agencies that will manage the Enrolment Stations in the identified post offices. More than 3700 post offices across the country have been identified for providing enrolment stations facility. 

            The mandate of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is to provide a Unique Identification Number to each and every resident of the country.  This involves:-

a)       Capture of demographic and bio-metric data of each and every resident.

b)       Generating a Unique Identification Number for each resident of the country.

c)       Printing a communication carrying the Unique Identification Number addressed to each resident.

d)       Delivery of this communication to the resident.

e)       Updation of resident’s data on a periodic basis.

             Department of Posts is striving to provide complete solution for delivering the Unique Identification Number to all the residents in the country.  The Department of Posts with its vast network of post offices is the only organization in the country that can provide an end to end comprehensive solution to the requirements of the UIDAI in this regard.

            The ‘Print to Post’ facility of Department of Posts at Kolkata is expected to print and dispatch about one crore UID letters upto March 31, 2011. During the year 2011-12, Department of Posts is expected to print and deliver about 12 crore UID letters.

PIB Press Release, February 4, 2011