New Delhi, India: As the second phase of the Unique Identification (UID) registration drive will kick off this month in Delhi, India, all UID machines’ whereabouts will be monitored by GPS, according to Santosh Bhogale, Under Secretary (IT) and nodal officer for the UID.
UID machines scan iris and take fingerprints of people registering for their 12-digit identification number. The need for GPS-based UID machines was felt for enhancing security of the machines. It was seen that the authorities did not have any means of knowing where the machines were being stored. It was left to IT companies that take up the job to safeguard the machines. The GPS-enabled tracking will help now all the authorities concerned to track each machine and it will cut down chances of any tampering with the machines or theft, explained Bhogale.
GPS-tracking will also avoid another problem that had cropped up during phase I of the drive. Officials said there had been incidents when residents would go to a registration centre, which would either be closed or would not have these machines.
“In case a centre is closed or not functioning, the GPS tracker will help citizens identify centres that are open. All information regarding GPS-based machines will be put up on the website so that citizens can check and go to the nearest centre,” explained Bhogale.
Source: Indian Express
