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July 16, 2011
India's UID service uses unlicensed windows copy
Recently, I was at the UID enrollment centre setup near my residence to enroll myself to get a UID card. For those who aren't aware, UID (Unique Identification card) is India's national ID card which will be required in future to avail all government services. It is also known as Aadhar card and is issued by the The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
The entire process of enrollment went pretty smooth. They take your picture, scan all 10 fingers and also do an Iris scan. An acknowledgement receipt is generated and given to the person enrolled. The whole process does not take more than 10 minutes.
What surprised me, however, was that the computer used for collecting all this information was running an unlicensed copy of windows. While its a different debate whether Windows OS was really required in the project, but having chosen Windows as the platform for collection of UID data, the government should spend some more money and procured licensed copies of the software.
How many Government institutions and corporate houses in India still use illegal softwares? There is more awareness about using genuine software today than it was 5 years back but given what I just saw today, India has a long way to go until we can truly call ourselves the super power of IT.
Posted by manish at July 16, 2011 04:29 PM