5th SCTI International Conference & Exhibition

	THE EVENT
	India is rapidly adopting new applications for smart card technology in a variety of segments, primarily to accelerate the government-to-citizen (G2C) interface and to bring transparency and accountability in the system. The ambitious Rs. 2,250 crore national e-governance action plan for 2003-07 drawn up by the Dept. of Information Technology is likely to change the way Indians live, access & transact. The smart cards are currently being used in many G2C applications such as the vehicle registration, driving license, healthcare, loyalty, public distribution systems etc.

Shri. S. Regupathy, Hon'ble Minister of State for Home Affairs, Govt. of India
lighting the lamp at the SCTI 2004 Conference

View of attendes at the SCTI 2004 Conference

Inaugural Panel at the SCTI 2004 Conference.

The Ministry of Home, Government of India is currently implementing a pilot project to issue multipurpose national ID card (MNIC) to about 3.05 million people in 20 districts of 13 border and coastal states of the country to reduce infiltration and strengthen internal security. The data for population register has been collected and bilingual database has been created in six different languages in the pilot area. The integration of the photograph and finger biometry has been completed and verification of citizenship status is underway.

The MNIC will include: Identification (voting, border areas, employment, bank account, hiring accommodation); Domicile (employment, SC/ST/OBC certificates, admission to professional courses); Residence (telephone, LPG, electricity connectivity); Citizenship (voters identity card, passport); Age (school admission, marriage, senior citizen/minors, old-age pension) and Services (health, education, PDS, social benefits for weaker sections). The India National ID project is expected to generate a total volume of 500 million cards over the next few years.

These ID cards are in use in many countries around the world including Malaysia's MyKad, Hong Kong's Smart Identity Card System (SMARTICS), Taiwan's Health Card and South Korea's Public Official ID Cards.