On Monday, Amit Shah Union Home Minister said, India could have a single multi-purpose unique card that will serve as an identity card and double up as a voter card, PAN and even a passport, a signal that the government could renew a plan conceived by former Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani.
“We do not have the scheme to introduce a multi-purpose identity card but this a possibility, “ Shah said at a function to lay the foundation stone for a new building in New Delhi to house the Registrar General of India (RGI).
The government would first create a population register and in the second stage, ask people in this register to establish their citizenship. The population register would serve as the mother database for creating the National Register of Indian Citizens by verifying the citizenship status of each and every resident, as per the government.
The Home Minister did not get into the mechanics of the population register or the ID card but only made fleeting references to some of the distinct advantages.
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