After 33 months, 145;count the dead146;

8220;Since sufficient time has elapsed after the verification of evidence by verification teams VTs8221;, the Registrar-General states in his letter dated July 13, 2006, 8220;some of the persons might have died, but their names exist in the LRIC local register of Indian citizen.8221;

With a view to delete these names, the letter says that 8216;8217;the village revenue officer patwari/in-charge of the urban ward will identify such persons from the draft LRIC and LRR and submit their names to the SDRCR sub district registrar of citizenship registration, an officer of the rank of the tehsildar through CVO citizen validiation officer, equivalent to naib tehsildars in the prescribed format8217;8217;.

They will also collect particulars of the deceased from prominent people of the villages/urban blocks visiting them in connection with updating of revenue records and other similar jobs. After initially collecting information, they will undertake verfication by personally visting the family and making appropriae entries.

A consolidated list of all the dead will then be forwarded to SDRCR though the CVO who, in turn, will send it to MNIC centre-in-charge, who will not digitally sign the records of such persons for assigning of national identity number NIN and preparation of identity cards.

The letter also asks the MNIC centre-in-charge to send these lists of the dead to the registrar of births and deaths for verification/registration of deaths. 8216;8217;On receipt of the report of the registrar of births and deaths, along with registration particulars of all the deceased persons, their names will be deleted from the LRIC/LRR,8217;8217; the letter adds.

THIS, in addition to the fact that the administration was able to enumerate and photograph only 80 per cent of the 4.03 lakh population above the age of 15, could be just a taste of things to come should the scheme get the national go-ahead.

8220;Kathua is the only district in the country to have all four tehsils covered by the pilot project,8221; said Additional Deputy Commissioner Charanjit Singh.

While the district administration had to enumerate the eligible, the Registrar-General tied up with Bharat Electricals Limited for computerisation of the collected data at MNIC Centres set up at each tehsil headquarters.

However, the project has faced teething problems since its very inception. Launched in November 2003 with a 90-day completion target, the survey involved 1,090 teachers as enumerators. Above them was set up a team of 349 officials and 258 non-officials, including village sarpanchs, to verify the enumeration.

Thereafter, started the actual process of filling up prescribed forms at the doorsteps of eligible people. Instead of the prescribed three months, collecting details, photographs and fingerprints took more than a year.

8220;There were areas like Lohai Malhar, where people were not ready to go without proper security in view of reports of the presence of militants. Enumerators also had to trek across hilly terrain to cover just one or two households,8217;8217; Singh said, adding that all this took time.

Apart from this, officials had to carry along all equipment, including computers, cameras and even generator sets to places that had not seen any power supply for days togather. Once, teams came back from far-off Bani and Basohli tehsils, complaining that electricity was erratic.

After the collected data was fed into computers, began the work of validation of forms by Citizen Validating Officers CVOs. Initially, the Registrar-General had prescribed these CVOs be gazetted officers from Education Department. However, as the forms contained critical data entry, including land records of the people in Urdu language, the administration again approached the Registrar-General asking him to allow Naib Tehsildars work as CVOs. Following a green signal, two dozen Naib Tehsildars were appointed as CVOs, with their supporting staff among patwaris and girdawars.

They had to validiate whether the person so enumerated was eligible for Indian citizenship or not and then recommend it to Sub District Registrar Of Citizens Registration. The entire process got completed in June 20 this year, Singh said, adding that at present, coding was going on to differentiate between citizens and non-citizens.

8220;The process will take another two-three months and then the administration will issue a public notice giving 90 days to people to file claims and objections. After disposal of these claims and objections, this corrected data will be sent to Registrar-General for issuance of MNICs,8221; he added.

However, now the fresh instructions on the dead is likely to further delay the entire process.

Regretting that 8220;people sitting in Delhi8221; chalk out plans without realising ground realities, a senior official recalled that the Registrar-General had initially given Rs 12 lakh to the district administration and asked it to provide a room for setting up MNIC Centre at every tehsil HQ, without ascertaining whether there was adequate space available for the purpose.

As the administration was already running short of accommodation for its existing staff, it approached the Registrar-General for construction of separate MNICs. The latter agreed to the proposal and another year got consumed in setting up permanent MNICs at each tehsil headquarters, he added.

How the world does it

In Spain, Italy and Germany, it is compulsory for citizens over 16 years to carry I-cards.

In France, I-cards are voluntary.

In the UK, from 2010, all those over the age of 16 applying for a passport will have to have an I-card. Eye, facial scans and fingerprints will be added onto a National Register from 2008.

At present, the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania are the only EU countries to have no I-card schemes.

Japan does not have I-cards.

In the US, Social Security numbers were created in 1936. But these weren8217;t 8216;Identifiers8217;. In 2005, legislation creating REAL I-cards has been passed. These are supposed to guard against illegal migrants getting car licenses. The deadline for this is 2008.

First biometric ID cards introduced by Thailand in 1989.

Source: Privacy International, The Guardian, BBC Newsonline