I&B ministry to promote UID project

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has been given the responsibility of promoting the Unique Identification Number project, officials said here on Friday.

In a recent meeting between the ministry officials and UID representatives, the project managers are said to have requested the I&B Ministry to utilise its large network comprising All India Radio and Doordarshan for promoting the benefits of the project, a key initiative of the UPA government, they said.

The publicity campaign for UID may begin this July. Though the ministry's various tools like AIR, DD, Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity and Song and Drama Division are used for spreading awareness about various government programmes, considering the UID project's scale, it is probably the biggest media campaign which has come its way in recent times, they added.

Apart from using DD and AIR's air time, the ministry could also buy airtime in private channels, especially those slots when popular TV serials are aired so that the UID awareness campaign can grab maximum attention. The ministry is also planning to buy airtime on private FM radio stations for the same purpose and the total estimate of the entire publicity campaign for UID is estimated to be between Rs 700 - 800 million (Rs 70 to 80 crore).

The UID project is expected to begin by the end of this year, they said. The Unique Identification Authority of India was formed for issuing a unique identification number to Indian citizens with their photograph and biometric data by 2011.

The IDs is expected to help address problems like rigged elections, widespread embezzlement that affects subsidies and poverty alleviation programs such as NREGA. It could also help in keeping a check on illegal immigration into India.