Chidambaram to give first chip-based ID card in Andaman

New Delhi, Jan 20 (ANI): Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will distribute the first tranche of Resident Identity (smart) card (RIC) at a function in Porthrapur village in Andaman and Nicobar Islands tomorrow.

The RIC is a smart card with 64 KB micro processor chip. About 2.56 lakh cards will distributed to all persons who have completed 18 years of age in Andaman.

It had been decided to create a National Population Register (NPR) in the coastal areas of nine maritime states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal and four UTs including Andaman and Nicobar, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu as one of the measures for strengthening the security of the coastline of the country.

The scheme envisages collection of specific items of information of each individual in the coastal areas and issue Resident Identity (smart) cards (RIC) to all usual residents, who are of age 18 years and above. All the selected 3331 coastal villages has been covered in the first phase of the project of these States/UTs. In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, besides the villages, all the towns will also be covered in the first phase itself. The approved cost of the scheme is Rs. 216.31 crore.

The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmadabad, has finalized the visual layout of this smart card (RIC). It incorporates several physical security features like Guilloche patterns, hot stamped hologram and micro text etc.

The security features in the micro processer chip have been finalized based on the recommendations of a Technical Committee, headed by the Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC) and consisting of several renowned experts from academic institutions and industry. The electronic security features include Key Management System (KMS) involving Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), Symmetric Key Infrastructure (SKI) etc.

A Consortium of Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) comprising of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) and Indian Telephone Industries Limited (ITIL) was awarded the work of direct data collection, capture of photograph and ten fingerprints.

Enumerators (Govt. officials) were assisted by data entry operators, provided by the CPSUs. The production and personalization of the RIC cards have been undertaken through the CPSUs. They have setup state-of-the-art production and personalization facilities at secure premises for the coastal NPR project. The delivery of the RICs would be undertaken by India Post for secure delivery to the usual residents.

The demographic data collection of 1.2 crore persons and the biometrics of 75 lakh persons in the 3331 coastal villages under the coastal NPR project have been completed. Till date, 5 lakh Identity (smart) cards have been produced. (ANI)