Union home minister P. Chidambaram handed over to villagers of Prothrapur in Andaman and Nicobar Islands the first lot of resident identity cards having their details in microchips, an initiative aimed at boosting maritime security. The first card was given to a woman named Bhoolaxmi.
These smart cards are part of the Centre’s ambitious National Population Register (NPR) scheme with approved cost of `216.31 crore under which specific details of residents of coastal areas in nine maritime states and Union Territories who have attained the age of 18 years will be collected and issued a smart card.
Speaking on the occasion, Chidambaram said about 2.56 lakh cards, each with a 64 KB microprocessor chip, will be distributed in Andaman.
In Andaman and Nicobar Islands, besides the villages, all the towns will also be covered in the first phase itself.
The scheme will also cover Gujarat, Mahara-shtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu). The demographic data collection of 1.2 crore people has been completed.