National Informatics Centre Mirzapur (UP)

National Identity Cards

(Paper Presentation)

RAJENDRA PRASAD
Principle System Analyst
National Informatics Center, New Delhi (India)
rajendra.prasad@nic.in
+91-9415392027
Abstract
Identity is an integral part of all items known to Humanity. All living being are
struggling for their unique Identity in the universe. It may be in the form of
Knowledge, Power, Wealth uses or misuses. Therefore all Government’s are also
willing to keep records of their Citizen in easy & quick access format. National
Identity Cards scheme is the best method to store key information about Citizens.
Computerization of the National Identity Cards (NIC) is one of the solutions to make
available information’s anywhere, anytime as per permission of the Authority.

"Registered And Justified Identity Verification (RAJIV) Card Scheme" is based

on the “NISANI” model of Identity card developed by me. The NISANI (National
Identification Scheme As Numbers Individually) model has won the India’s best e-
contents 2005 Golden Award in E-Governance category. The NISANI card is a multi
purpose card which would replace the 20 types of popular cards like citizenship,
succession, ATM cum debit, electoral role, blood group, PAN, religion, caste, date of
birth, date of death, education, eye donor, disability, driving license, gender, own
home, domicile, Identity, death & birth registration. NISANI Card bears the Photo,
Name, Complete address, Guardian name, Height, Passport No., Telephone No., 3-d
Hologram of GOI, Expiry Date, Profession, PIN & a unique 20 digits code. The card
is also bearing the previous No., Driving license, Thumb Impression, Signature &
ATM cum debit on the reverse. All information is compressed into 20 digits. This is a
real experience of e-Governance which will going to facilitate Election Commission
of India, Census Directorate of India, Registrar General of India, Health Ministry of
India, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, District
Collector, Police Department, Area Development Authority, Eye Bank, Blood Bank,
Food Ministry & Citizen of India.

“NISANI SE VOTE” (NISANI Secure Election Via Ordinary Telephony

Equipment) is one of the greatest applications of this scheme. It will greatly improve
the number of votes as most of the people are already engage in election duty or has
gone somewhere else. It will also facilitate to Old, Disables, Afraid Voter, Ladies and
those who don’t want to go to booth for Vote.

All the Birth case is reported by the Nurse of Medical Office, all the death
case is reported by the Constable of Police Office & all new appearance will be
reported by Patwari / Lekhpal of District Collector Office. These all staff’s are posted
at Village /Ward level. The Main computer will be at district Center. Some of the
basic information is also available via Web Page and IVRS through Telephone.
Voting may be done via IVRS as the 20 Digit code is Unique. The very first NISANI
Number of the life can be used as PAN number, ATM cum debit card, Electricity
Connection Number, Telephone Number, Bank account number, so that any Cheque /
Draft payment of any bank can be made on any bank and secondly black money can
be easily traced out. The card will be renewed after Five years or in case of theft, loss
may be requested for new card. This is a unique information directory about census,
disables, education, religion, criminals, orphans, blood groups, homeless, HIV+, eye
donor, professionals, elections etc. The Card is very simple. It does not require any
machine to read the card information except ATM.

Rajendra Prasad Page 1 3/30/2006

Contents

1. Introduction 3

2. System Overview 4

3. National Identification Card Scheme 5

4. Who will get benefit of the ID cards? 6

5. Implementation of NISANI Card 7

6. Privacy under the Emergent Identity Card 8

7. Secured Election Via Ordinary Telephone Equipment using NISANI 9

8. Software Engineering 10

9. Key management & other issues 11

10. Conclusions 14

11. Information about the Author 14

12. References 15

Rajendra Prasad Page 2 3/30/2006

 1. Introduction

An ID card will provide every person legally resident in this country including foreign
nationals with an easy and secure way of demonstrating their right to be here and of
asserting their place in the community. The Identity card being proposed will be
linked to the person to whom it is issued by an unique identifiers which together with
more traditional security checks, should ensure that it is virtually impossible to obtain
an ID card in multiple identities. Key Information printed on the National Identity
Card (NISANI) including 20 Digits NISANI Code are as follows.

Photograph of the Citizen

Identity Card No.
Name
Guardian Name
Address 1 Expiry Date of Card
Address 2 Native Language
Address 3 ATM Card Coding Area

Passport No. Signature

Telephone No D. L. Validity
Profession Issue Date of D. L.
PIN Code Previous ID Card Number
Height in Cm. Vehicle License Number
Voting at Booth Allowed Symbol Vehicle Type Licensed
3 D Hologram of Government of India Thumb Impression

Death Registration Card is also bearing same information printed above except Expiry
date of Card, Thumb Impression & Signature. At the place of Thumb & Signature it
print Mother, Guardian NISANI number & relation with Guardian.

National Identification Scheme As Numbers Individually (NISANI) is designed &

developed for countries like India, where the population figure is very large and
economy is very poor. Making a National ID for each citizen of INDIA, a One Rupee
Expenses will make a major difference in the National Fund. Therefore we can't move
for a costly ID Card & Card reader/decoder. Secondly the Electricity Power supply in
India is very poor except the National / State Capital. It is 10-12 Hours in a whole
day. Therefore we can't move for power dependant equipments. The main feather of
the software is its 20 digit code which contains more than Twenty unique information
based on physical & geographical property about the individual.

Rajendra Prasad Page 3 3/30/2006

 2. System Overview

Identity (ID) cards are in use, in one form or another in numerous countries around
the world. The type of card, its function, and its integrity vary enormously. Around a
hundred countries have official, compulsory, national IDs that are used for a variety
of purposes.

ID cards are established for a variety of reasons. Race, politics and religion were often
at the heart of older ID systems. The threat of insurgents or political extremists, and
the exercise of religious discrimination have been all too common as motivation for
the establishment of ID systems which would force enemies of the State into
registration, or make them vulnerable in the open without proper documents

In recent years, ID cards have been linked to national registration systems, which in
turn form the basis of government administration. In such systems - for example
Spain, Portugal, Thailand and Singapore - the ID card becomes merely one visible
component of a much larger system. With the advent of magnetic stripes and
microprocessor technology, these cards can also become an interface for receipt of
government services. Thus the cards become a fusion of a service technology, and a
means of identification.

Broadly expressed, there are three different forms of ID card systems:

1. Paper based documents (Low maintenance cost but susceptible to forgery)
2. Readable plastic card systems (Moderate cost, durable, major forgery potential)
3. Smart Integrated systems (High cost, wide functionality, low threat of forgery)

Stand Alone ID documents are issued in primitive conditions, or in environments,

which are subject to sudden economic or political change. Often, areas under military
rule or emergency law will issue on the spot ID cards, which are, essentially, internal
passports. Their principle purpose is to establish that a person is authorized to live in a
region.

The majority of ID systems have a support register which contains parallel

information to that on the card. A regional or municipal authority often maintains this
register. In a minority of countries, this is a national system. It is a cost effective
system with most of the feather of smart card.

Virtually all card systems established in the past ten years are integrated systems.
They have been designed to form the basis of general government administration. The
card number is, in effect, a national registration number used as a common identifier
for many government agencies. Key elements of an Integrated Smart ID System are
THE REGISTER A central population register
THE CODE A unique numerical identifier
THE CARD An obligatory, multi-purpose ID card
LEGAL OBLIGATIONS. Requirements in law to disclose the card or to report card
transactions to government.
ADMINISTRATION The number and the Card register are used by a variety
of agencies & organisations as their administrative basis.
CROSS NOTIFICATION Agencies are often required to notify each other of
changes to a person's details.

Rajendra Prasad Page 4 3/30/2006

 3. National Identification Card Scheme

Blood Group
Religion Index
Birth year
Birth Month & Caste
Birth date & Century
Sex & Eye Color Index
Disability Index
Education
State Number & Crime
Parliament Number
Assembly & Home
Serial & Eye

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

This is the scheme of Twenty Digit NISANI Code. Coding is as follows.

1 Blood Group 2 Religion Index 3&4 Birth Year 5 & 6 Birth Month &
Caste
01 to 12 Month Code
0. You can’t see it in your +00 for Forward Caste
Card. (Dead) 21 to 32 Month Code
1. A+ 1. Hindu +20 for Backward Caste
2. A- 2. Muslim These Two digits are reserved 41 to 52 Month Code
3. B+ 3. Sikkha for Birth +40 for Other Backward
4. B- 4. Cristian Year. (00 to 99) Caste
5. AB+ 5. Jain 61 to 72 Month Code
6. AB- 6. Parasi +60 for Schedule Caste
7. O+ 7. Buddha 81 to 92 Month Code
8. O- 8. Others +80 for Schedule Tribe
9. HIV+ 9. No Religion caste
7 & 8 Birth & Century Sex & Eye Color 10 Disability 11 Education

0. Sex "Male" Eye "Black" 0. Normal.

01 to 31 Birth Date 1. Sex "Male" Eye "Brown" 1. Partially Blind
+ 00 for Century 2000 2. Sex "Male" Eye "Blue" 2. Partially Deaf & 1. Illiterate
3. Sex "Male" Eye "Green" Dumb 2. Literate
4. Sex "Male" Eye "Red 3. Partially Handicapp 3. Primary School
33 to 63 Birth Date Irides" 4. Partially Retarded 4. Junior High School
+ 32 for Century 1900 5. Sex "Female" Eye "Black" 5. Totally Blind 5. High School
6. Sex "Female" Eye "Brown" 6. Totally Deaf & 6. Intermediate
7. Sex "Female" Eye "Blue" Dumb 7. Bachelor Degree
65 to 95 Birth Date 8. Sex "Female" Eye "Green" 7. Totally Handicappe 8. Master Degree
+ 64 for Century 1800 9. Sex "Female" Eye "Red 8. Mentally Retarded 9. Doctorate Above
Irides" 9. Any Other Disability

12 & 13 14 & 15 16 & 17 & 18 19 & 20

State & Jailed by Court Parliament Number Assembly & Home Serial & Eye Donation

01 to 28 State Name
41 to 47 Union Territory
+ 00 for Honorable
51 to 78 State Name
91 to 97 Union Territory
+50 for Criminal
These Two digits are reserved
for Parliamentary Constituency
Number
From "01" to "90".
001 to 450 Assembly
Constituency
+000 for Family Member
501 to 950 Assembly
Constituency
+500 for Tenants in House
01 to 50 Serial Number
+00 for Eye Not Donated
51 to 99 Serial Number
+50 for Eye Donated

Rajendra Prasad Page 5 3/30/2006

4. Who will get benefit of the ID cards?

A. Election Commission of India :- For their exact voter electoral roll

Assembly wise, Parliament wise, State wise. Candidate verification
became easy. Later on Voting may be done through Telephone with
the help of IVRS, using NISANI Number and PIN Code.
B. Census directorate of India :- For the current fortnight population of
India with many category wise Like Male, Female, Age, Religion,
Caste, Sub Caste, Literacy, Home, Profession etc.
C. Registrar Death Birth :- This office will able to fetch the data of each
citizen of India with so many detail like Date of Birth, Mother Name,
Guardian Name, Relation with Guardian , Place of Birth, Date of
Death, Birth Rate, Death Rate, Infant Death etc Religion & Caste wise.
D. Health Ministry of India :- This ministry will be able to know about
the citizen health status like HIV+, Blind, Physically Disable, Blood
Group, Deaf & Dumb, Mentally Retarded, Polio Affected (Partially or
Fully) etc Age wise. Donated Eye After Death (DEAD). So that in case
of unclaimed dead body, Eye may be saved without any delay.
E. Ministry of Home :- This ministry is able to know the exact Identity
of a person with their family history. Religion & Caste wise population
development detail and Homeless in any particular area of the Country.
F. Education Department:- This department may got the data of all
citizen with their literacy stand like Illiterate, Literate, Primary school,
Junior High School, High School, Intermediate, Graduation, Master,
Doctorate and above level. This will help to make the scheme for
illiterates and different education level people in any particular area.
G. District Collector :- District Collector office will able to issue some
certificate without delay like Succession Certificate, Religion & Caste
Certificate, Domicile Certificate and Mother /Guardian Certificate.
H. Some Other Department :- Area Development Authority will able to
know the requirement of Home for a particular category type of people
Eye Bank will able to know the details of Eye Donor in that local area.
Blood Bank will able to know the detail of Blood Group wise people
availability in the nearby place.
I. Police Department :- This Office will be able to find out any
suspected person in any particular area by just asking his/her NISANI
Card. If the person is not verified as per the detail given in the card, He
may be arrested for the further inquiry and kept in custody until the
identity is proved as Indian National Citizen. Voice tag of the
individual has been added in database for extra verification by IVRS.
J. Ministry of Finance :- Issuing of PAN Card may be abolished as all
the required information is available in the NISANI card itself.
Department may be able to know the latest change in address, financial
status more rapidly & frequently because it is also used as ATM Card.
K. Citizen of India :- Able to know the Family history and their Unique
Identity Number which will be used as an internal Passport. Freedom
from carrying twenty different type of Card / Certificate. Satisfaction
of Eye donation after death. Even in case of accidental death the eyes
will be removed immediately without any legal / Police formality.

Rajendra Prasad Page 6 3/30/2006

5. Implementation of NISANI Card

A. Birth Registration :- All birth will be reported by the Medical Department of

the district through their field staff (Nurse/ANM) posted at the Village/Ward
level or at Primary Health Centre.
B. Death Registration :- Every type of death case will be reported by the Police
Department of the District through their field staff (Constable) posted for
Village / Ward at Thana / Chauki Area.
C. New Person Registration :- All the new person appeared in the Area will be
reported by the District Collector Office of the District by their field staff
(Land Revenue Inspector / Lekhpal) posted at Village / Ward level

The overall work will be carried out at the District Collector Office by NISANI
Officer. Just after getting the information for a New ID Card NISANI Officer for
Photography and Voice Recording will approach to the concern person and on the
basis of information received by the concerned department, Verify and Collect
some other information and take a Snap / Photo with their voice recording.

Within a week the NISANI Officer will got printed the ID Card and handover the
Card to Police Department to get the Thumb Impression and Signature on it by the
concern person. After getting the Thumb Impression and Signature the same Card
will be returned by the Police Officer to NISANI Officer for Enabling the ID Card
in master database of the main computer. The NISANI Card will be enabled in the
Computer Database and returned to the concerned person through the field staff of
Medical Department. These are some rules for NISANI Card.

1. Previous ID # must be “00000000000000000000” for very first Id Card of a

Indian citizen.
2. Previous ID # must be “99999999999999999999” for very first Id Card of a
citizen who is not an Indian.
3. Mother / Guardian ID # must be “11111111111111111111” for those who
believe in God Father.
4. Mother / Guardian ID # must be “22222222222222222222” for those who do
not know about their Mother / Guardian.
5. Mother / Guardian ID # must be “77777777777777777777” for those whose
Mother / Guardian ID is well known but he / she is not Indian citizen.
6. Mother / Guardian ID # must be “88888888888888888888” for those whose
Mother / Guardian ID is well known but he / she does not want to associate
with them.
7. Any record can be modified up to satisfaction only until the card has not been
printed.
8. Only the printed card can be enabled in the master database. Which is done by
user Admin only.
9. In case of Lost/Theft/Damage/Death of the card, the new card will be
reprinted only when the current card will be disable in the master database.
Thus the process is over. The whole process will be completed within the month only.
The key departments involved are District Collector Office, Chief Medical Office,
Superintendent of Police Office.

Rajendra Prasad Page 7 3/30/2006

6. Privacy under the Emergent Identity Card

Privacy is the right to be left alone. It is the line that limits the power of the state to
intrude into individual life. Privacy is the right of every individual to decide what
personal information should be disclosed, and to whom. It is the mechanism that
ensures personal autonomy and freedom.

We are living in an age when almost all kinds of personal information could be
recorded and stored in digitized forms. Consequently, the potential conflict between
commercial/government interests and personal rights of privacy might not be unique
at all. All over the world, information technology companies are engaged in
researching on and looking for more efficient and effective ways for data mining and
data processing every day. Although the debate on technology and privacy has been
transformed since 1970s.

The existence of a person’s life story in a hundred unrelated databases is one

important condition that protects privacy. The bringing together of these separate
information centers creates a major privacy vulnerability. Any multi-purpose national
ID card has this effect.

One of the primary dangers stemming from the card based national ID card system is
the mass data surveillance made possible by the comprehensive database of integrated
personal information of the whole population. From the perspective of privacy
protection, it is unacceptable to have a national central databank supported by the card
based national ID system.

We expect most Identity checks using the Register to be done with consent.
Information may be provided without consent to Security and Intelligence Agencies
to ensure that the scheme helps in the fight against terrorism. The Police, Customs and
Inland Revenue may also be provided with the types of personal identity information
described as “register able facts” for law enforcement and related purposes, e.g. name,
address, place and date of birth, minus the audit trail of card use. Provision of
information regarding card usage, would only apply in cases of serious crimes. The
provision of information will be properly regulated and subject to independent
oversight. Sensitive information relating to particular services would continue to be
held by those organisations and only people working in those services would have
access to it as at present (e.g. medical records).

As digital information allows perfect duplication, quick searching and efficient data
transfer, introducing a national electronic ID might be quite equal to a privacy
nightmare. Under the scheme, huge electronic databases which would include almost
all kinds of personal information could easily be copied, stored, searched, transferred
and even manipulated. It is nearly unquestionable that an electronic national databank
has the tremendous potential to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of
government administrations. However, my sense is before we have a better solution
for the rule of law and individual rights problems which increasingly arise in Asian
countries fascinated by electronic commerce, creating a smart card based national ID
system might be a solution looking for new problems.

It is also true that more and more Information weaken & high risk of loosing privacy.

Rajendra Prasad Page 8 3/30/2006

7. Secured Election Via Ordinary Telephone Equipment using NISANI

This is one major application of National Identity Card Scheme “NISANI SE VOTE”
(NISANI Secured Election Via Ordinary Telephone Equipment) which require a
IVRS software running on the same machine on which the central data base is resides.

There have been several studies on using computer technologies to improve elections.
These studies caution against the risks of moving too quickly to adopt electronic
voting machines because of the software engineering challenges, insider threats,
network vulnerabilities, and the challenges of auditing.

The design of a “good” voting system, whether electronic or using traditional paper
ballots or mechanical devices, must satisfy a number of sometimes competing criteria.
The anonymity of a voter’s ballot must be preserved, both to guarantee the voter’s
safety when voting against a malevolent candidate, and to guarantee that voters have
no evidence that proves which candidates received their votes. The existence of uch
evidence would allow votes to be purchased by a candidate. The voting system must
also be tamper-resistant to thwart a wide range of attacks, including ballot stuffing by
voters and incorrect tallying by insiders. A voting system must be comprehensible to
and usable by the entire voting population, regardless of age, infirmity, or disability.
Providing accessibility to such a diverse population is an important engineering
problem and one where, if other security is done well, electronic voting could be a
great improvement over current paper systems. Flaws in any of these aspects of a
voting system, however, can lead to indecisive or incorrect election results.

Elections allow the populace to choose their representatives and express their
preferences for how they will be governed. Naturally, the integrity of the election
process is fundamental to the integrity of democracy itself. The election system must
be sufficiently robust to withstand a variety of fraudulent behaviors and must be
sufficiently transparent and comprehensible that voters and candidates can accept the
results of an election. Unsurprisingly, history is littered with examples of elections
being manipulated in order to influence their outcome.

The proposed “NISANI SE VOTE” is fulfilling the most of the criteria observed in
the real election. An IVRS system is running on the same machine on which the
NISANI data is maintained. Whenever the voter want to cast their vote, He / She has
to dial the telephone number provided for the voting. As soon as the connection
established, System welcome to you and ask for your NISANI number. The number
searched in the master database for Existence and validity. If the entered number is
valid, It checks for permission whether cast the vote through IVRS or not and the
same number has not been already cast their vote. For a successful result the system
ask for your password code (PIN) to authenticate you. Consequently on the basis of
your NISANI Number system allow you to cast your vote for a particular Parliament /
Assembly constituency. You will hear the Candidate Serial Number, Name, Party
affiliated & Symbol. You have to enter the serial number of the candidate through
your telephone key. It will also ask for confirmation. Thus the process is over. If you
have opted for voting though IVRS, you will not be able to cast your vote on the
Election Booth. It will greatly improve the number of votes as most of the people are
already engage in election duty or has gone somewhere else. It will also facilitate to
Old, Disables, Afraid Voter, Ladies and those who don’t want to go to booth for Vote.

Rajendra Prasad Page 9 3/30/2006

8. Software Engineering

When creating a secure system, getting the design right is only part of the battle. The
design must then be securely implemented. We now examine the coding practices and
implementation style used to create the identity system. This type of analysis can offer
insights into future versions of the code. For example, if a current implementation has
followed good implementation practices but is simply incomplete, one would be more
inclined to believe that future, more complete versions of the code would be of a
similar high quality. Of course, the opposite is also true, perhaps even more so: it is
very difficult to produce a secure system by building on an insecure foundation.

Of course, reading the source code to a product gives only an incomplete view into the
actions and intentions of the developers who created that code. Regardless, we can see
the overall software design, we can read the comments in the code, and, thanks to the
“Expert Exchange” repository, we can even look at earlier versions of the code and
read the developers’ commentary as they committed their changes to the archive.

Entire Software is written on MS Windows 2000 Server using MS Visual Studio 6.0 It
also requires MS DirectX 8.0 and MS speech SDK 5.1 installed on the machine.

NISANI S/w is protected by a Login and Password in the very beginning.

Administrator can add, edit any User, Validity, Password or Privilege. A non privilege
user can change their password only. All user will be expired after a given date &
time by the Administrator. After a successful login user can do operation on record set
as per their privilege If this is a very first login then the S/w will ask for the station
name and the Postal Index Number. After this step it can’t be changed until next
installation. Any user can add record. Before adding the new record operator must
have Photograph, all relevant information including Mother, Guardian name, their
NISANI card No., Blood group and Voice tag of the citizen in Telephony quality
audio, so that it can be accessed through telephone also. Once the new record added, it
can be modified up to satisfaction until the NISANI Card got printed. After printing
NISANI card it can be only Enable or Disable. All the new NISANI card will be
enabled by the administrator only in the master database after getting Thumb
Impression & Signature on the NISANI Card and then putting 3D Hologram on it.
User can move to any record easily by giving the record number or through step by
step. For each change of information it require a new NISANI Card. New NISANI
Card will only be generated by the S/w when the previous NISANI record is disable
in the database. Current NISANI card can be found by pressing Show button and then
can be printed if it is not printed before. The NISANI S/w also having a option for
Searching Citizen Name. You can search in two type, Exact search or like search.
This will help to find out the NISANI Card Number of the citizen who has
lost/damage their card and don’t know the NISANI No. Once you know the NISANI
No., NISANI Card reader will explore all the information about the citizen. Now the
Printed card can be enabled, Enabled card can be disabled, Disabled card can be
reprinted or Death Card can be generated. Some information may accessed through
telephone via IVRS subject to authorization user like investigating Officer.

All the operation will only be allowed on the latest NISANI Record only and there
will be no operation allowed on the death record set.

Rajendra Prasad Page 10 3/30/2006

9. Key management & other issues

A. What happens if an ID card is lost or stolen?

Virtually all countries with ID cards report that their loss or damage causes
immense problems. Up to five per cent of cards are lost, stolen or damaged
each year, and the result can be denial of service and benefits, and in the
broadest sense loss of identity.
The replacement of a high security, high integrity card involves significant
administrative involvement. Documents must be presented in person to an
official. Cards must be processed centrally. This process can take some weeks.
In case of NISANI card lost, stolen or damaged, a New Card will be issued
bearing a new ID number and the old card ID number will be disable in the
master Data base. So that misuse of the card can be prevented. Rest all other
information will be same as of the previous ID Card.

B. Security Features

The designs carry a Guilloche pattern, defined as high security designs not
available in general market. Additionally, the card carries a number of security
features, which would be verifiable at various levels. These cards security
features would be as follows:

Guilloches patterns are printed on the NISANI allowing the creation of fine
lines. The final design is perfectly regular and very difficult to counterfeit.
These Guilloche patterns are printed in the background as a design.

Micro Lines are printed in the form of a text printed in Characters that can
only be read under a strong magnification and which to the Naked eye should
look like one continuous line. Micro text would border and underline specified
titles and symbols.

A transparent Holographic heat activated Polyester / polyethylene security

transfer laminate with integrated high definition repeating holographic logo of
the Government of India created through high security state of the art
engraving technique The holographic security laminates used is bound
securely to the substrate so that any attempt to remove the laminate under a
variety of conditions, or to alter the information contained on the card shall
result in the physical destruction of the system which should be visibly
apparent. Multiple images should be placed across the face for increased
security. The laminates are highly resistant to photo substitution and alteration
of any data. The laminates and the card security feature are non photocopy
able

Optically Variable Ink has been used in the laminates and the substrate to
create a non photo copy able image.

Computer generated anti copy anti scan features are present in the card which
are not reproduce able through the use of high quality scanners or copiers.

Rajendra Prasad Page 11 3/30/2006

 C. Financial cost of an Identity Card System.

NISANI card is very much simpler in operation. Almost work is carried out by
the existing system of the government. The operation cost may occur 30-45
Rupees per card. The overall cost may be 30-45 Billion Indian Rupees.

Our assessments to date have indicated that the benefits outweigh the costs of
the scheme. The fact is that we are having to incorporate several identifiers
into existing documentation. What the identity cards scheme does is take this
opportunity to ensure we maximise the benefits to Country. These include
reducing unauthorised access to benefits and public services, reducing illegal
immigration and working and tackling organised crime and terrorism.

There are considerable benefits to individuals from the introduction of identity

cards and the principle will be that overall costs of the scheme will be met
from charging. This principle is well established for documents like passports
and residence permits, which will have to be upgraded anyway.

D. Data Warehouse

Data Warehouse is designed to have ample storage space not only for the
Citizens' Database but to accommodate other perceived databases of NISANI.
This comprehensive Data Warehouse is scaleable to accommodate expansions
beyond storage of 50 Terabytes to 100 Terabytes or even more.

The system is scaleable to accommodate expansion to any conceivable size. At

the preliminary stage, the size of Data Warehouse is around 50 Terabytes to
100 Terabytes. This size is sufficient to cater for the needs of the Citizens'
Database. In the first phase of this project Regional and District Headquarters
has been provided on-line access to Data Warehouse and will be upgraded on
requirement basis. General public will also have the same access through dial-
up connections. In Phase II, Data Marts and Data Malls connection will be
made available to users throughout the country (right from Districts to Tehsil
level).

E. Protect from the threat of terrorism.

An Identity Cards scheme would disrupt the use of false identities by terrorist
organizations, for example in money laundering and organized crime. We
know that at least one-third of terrorist suspects make use of false identities.
The scheme would also be a useful tool in helping to maintain and disrupt the
activities of terrorist networks.

One unintended repercussion of ID card systems is that they can entrench wide
scale criminal false identity. By providing a one-stop form of identity,
criminals can easily use cards in several identities. The general idea was that
cards would authorize the bearer to enter certain grounds and certain locations,
but not others. Street crime; burglaries and crimes by bogus officials could be
diminished through the use of an ID card, subject to that the card should be
voluntary at every time for all citizen.

Rajendra Prasad Page 12 3/30/2006

 F. Do ID cards facilitate discrimination?

Yes. The success of ID cards as a means of fighting crime or illegal

immigration will depend on a discriminatory checking procedure, which will
target minorities.

The irony of the ID card option is that it invites discrimination by definition.

Discriminatory practices are an inherent part of the function of an ID card.
Without this discrimination, police would be required to conduct random
checks, which in turn, would be politically unacceptable.

All discrimination is based on one of two conditions: situational or sectional.

Situational discrimination targets people in unusual circumstances. i.e.
walking at night, visiting certain areas, attending certain functions or
activities, or behaving in an abnormal fashion. sectional discrimination targets
people having certain characteristics i.e. blacks, youths, skinheads, motorcycle
riders or the homeless. ID cards containing religious or ethnic information
make it possible to carry this discrimination a step further.

Countries have accepted a law introducing the obligation to identify oneself in

numerous situations including, for instance, at work, at football stadiums, on
public transport an in banks. While the card is voluntary in name, it is in effect
a compulsory instrument that will be carried at all times by Dutch citizens.
Moreover, foreigners can always be asked to identify themselves to authorities
at any moment and in any circumstance.

French police have been accused of overzealous use of the ID card against
blacks, and particularly against Algerians. Greek authorities have been
accused of using data on religious affiliation on its national card to
discriminate against people who are not Greek Orthodox.

In India, the design and structure of the society is such that every person is
already divided into Caste & Sub Caste. Which is well known by their
Surname. Nothing is hidden. The naming structure bifurcate them into
Religion, caste & sub caste. So introducing a NISANI Card does not make any
major difference and discrimination.

G. Support for Death Registration.

The same NISANI card will be used as Death registration. A new record is
added in the database as Death registration containing almost all the
information same as of the last NISANI card except the blood group is “Dead”
and at the place of the date of birth now it will be date of death. Validity of the
card is left blank means infinity. On the back of the NISANI Card, Thumb
Impression & Signature column will be replaced by the Mother & Guardian
NISANI number and relation with Guardian. Which will facilitate to find out
the died person identity easily in the society. The death NISANI card may be
used for many types of succession rights and thereafter property in the name
of died person. It cannot be reprinted or Enable / Disable in the master
database. Through IVRS you will receive message “The citizen had died”.

Rajendra Prasad Page 13 3/30/2006

10. Conclusion

It is nearly unquestionable that an electronic national databank has the tremendous

potential to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of government administrations.
However, my sense is before we have a better solution for the rule of law and
individual rights problems which increasingly arise in countries like India fascinated
by electronic commerce, creating a Identity card based national ID system might be a
solution looking for new problems.

This paper does not argue that digital technologies or smart card schemes should not
be adopted in countries like India. The thesis of this paper is we should be more
cautious about how to use Identity card technologies. It might prove to be a ridiculous
myth if we choose to focus only on the efficiency of digital technology, its potential in
contributing to a more effective government, and thus a modern or better society. In
addition, the governments might underestimate the fact that their educated and
illuminated citizens have learned to appreciate and fight to protect the public value of
personal privacy.

It seems Identity card technology is great for our electronic future, and my prediction
at this point is it would prove to be great only when its applications are cautious
enough to stimulate wide acceptance On the one hand, private sector applications of
Identity card technology are commercially attractive. On the other hand, in the long
run this private sector applications approach has more potential to help the private
sector win general confidence than a controversial multi-purpose mandatory Identity
card in every citizen's pocket.

In other words, my suggestion is that National Identity Card System is the best
possible solution to have a key information directory about the Citizen and the social
status of the country. Moreover, it will soon be proved to the governments of India
that NISANI is best suited for the counties like India which implementation cost is
very low, source of Information is very high, private information are in codified form,
some information is available through IVRS, Thumb impression, signature & other
information can be verified through web page, there is no need of electricity or any
equipment to read the ID Card so the system is ready to function from very first day.
Almost every type of verification is possible on the spot itself whether investigation is
in the city or any remote area.

11. Information about the Author

Rajendra Prasad - Graduate in Computer Science from the University of Kanpur

(Uttar Pradesh) College Harcourt Butler Technological Institute in 1989. Since June
1989 He is working in Government of India, National Informatics Centre. NIC is a
key department of Government of India under Ministry of Communication &
Information Technology, dedicated to provide decision support system. The author
has been awarded for this Software as India’s best e-contents 2005 in the e-
governance category and honoured as Golden Award. The Software has been
nominated to “Word Summit Information Society (WSIS) 2005” in Tunis from
INDIA. Author has also been invited for the Conflux 2005 conference in NEW Delhi
to present this paper under umbrella e-Governance “Technology & Application”.

Rajendra Prasad Page 14 3/30/2006

12. References

1. The Government's decision to introduce a national Identity Cards Scheme was

announced in the Queen's Speech on 17 May 2005 and the Identity Cards
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/comrace/identitycards/
2. Even countries such as France and Germany have no national ID card register.
and the introduction of a sectoral national identity card.
www.privacy.org/pi/activities/idcard/
3. This is where the need for a public debate on a national identity card fits.
I propose we examine the pros and cons of a national identity card.
www.cic.gc.ca/english/press/speech/id-card.html
4. News and advice for information security managers.
searchsecurity.techtarget.com/
5. The Real ID Act would establish what amounts to a national identity card.
State drivers' licenses and other such documents would have to meet federal ID
news.com.com/ FAQ+How+Real+ID+will+affect+you/2100-1028_3-5697111.html
6. The Government has announced plans for a compulsory national identity cards
For many UK citizens the identity card will be issued as passports come up
http://www.ukpa.gov.uk/identity.asp
7. Thirty years passed before the idea of a national identity card was again raised.
The identity card idea was then raised at the national Tax Summit in
http://www.privacyinternational.org/ issues/idcard/campaigns.html
8. Summarizes the arguement for and against the implementation of national
identification
cards in Canada. Learn more about the legal and privacy issues that
http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/ privacy/id_cards/reaction.html
9. National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis / Pakistan Origin Card
Computerized National Identity Card. Identity cards are being issued to all adult
http://www.nadra.gov.pk/cnic.html
10. The push for a national identity card threatens to cause more splits in the
Government than the mandatory detention brawl after the Prime Minister,
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ identity-card-threatens-to-split-
coalition/2005/07/17/1121538868823.html
11. British national identity card After many years of discussion through successive
governments, in 2003 then British Home Secretary David Blunkett.
http://www.answers.com/topic/british-national-identity-card
12. No compulsory national Identity Cards (ID Cards) BBC iCan campaign site UK ID
Cards blog ... CASNIC - Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card.
http://www.spy.org.uk/icb/
13. the very first taiwan national identity card:. the very first taiwan national
identity card. current identity card (front):. taiwan identity card - front
web.tnnua.edu.tw/~g920713/2005/ 06/itunes-and-national-identity-cards.html
14. Indian Citizens and issue of Multi-purpose National Identity Cards (MNICs) based
on this register. The main purpose of this project, to be known as,
http://www.censusindia.net/results/eci17.pdf
15. Sample identity documents with group classifications -
http://www.preventgenocide.org/prevent/removing-facilitating-
factors/IDcards/samples/
16. Microsoft developer network. http://msdn.microsoft.com/
17. See Now the Electronic National ID Card Project in South Korea,
<http://kpd.sing-kr.org/idcard/bbs/ur0116.html>.
18. See generally Election commission of India website http://www.eci.gov.in/
19. See Steering Committee for Information Development and Promotion,
Executive Yuan, <http://www.gsn.gov.tw/eng/iccard>.

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