The Gigantic Identification Project
Aadhaar is the ambitious government project mounted on massive scale at a huge budget that promises to change the face of social sector in India. It is the project of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) launched in 2009 with the responsibility of producing and distributing it. Aadhaar is a twelve digit unique identity number which will be issued to every Indian resident (1.2 billion) and provide an easier access to the social benefits from the government. “It will ease and fasten the process to get a scholarship, bank accounts, LPG connections etc.” says UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani. For this, demographic details (residence address) of a person and biometric information (photograph, iris-scan, fingerprints) are collected by the operator which gets encrypted and are stored in a centralized database.
It is not a compulsory approach instead, it is voluntary based. It is valid for the whole life of an individual and is free of cost. The objective of this project is to bring transparency and accountability to the system by plugging in leakages and thus leaving no space for ambiguity. The main idea is to reach out to those poor and unprivileged people and provide them with direct cash and benefit transfer so that they can easily get access to important documents like passport, ration card, driving license, voter id, mobile connection and pension.

This project is in the middle of execution and closing which involves status reports, changes, quality, forecasts, transfer documents, evaluation and release of resources (L. Nickerson, Project Management for HR [PPT Presentation1, slide 13] September 9th, 2015). By April 2015 the government had spent around ₹5,630 Cr on this national scale project and generated around 81.78 Cr Aadhaar numbers, covering 67% of population according to UIDAI. There was a tremendous reduction in the cost of subsidies like kerosene and gas connections. That means, most of these resources were going in the wrong hands and the Aadhaar project helped in eradicating this theft. The government further plans to utilize this amount for the education, health and providing manure to the small scale farmers. The government has also introduced online authentication facility which is going to be useful to the various government departments, telecom companies and financial institutions to authenticate an Indian resident.
It has helped in the identification of needy and eliminate bogus card holders thus reducing duplication. It has also reformed the Public Distribution System to an extent by linking the fair price shops to the government departments who are responsible for the distribution of food items and managing the quality control of the product.

Aadhaar Card (UID) and it's Applications | Business Article |. (2013, June 9). Retrieved September 14, 2015, from http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/operations/7602-aadhaar-card-uid-and-its-applications.html

Aadhaar project has met its set of criticism. There has been praises but not without its share of controversies. Some of them being privacy intrusion, feasibility of biometric scans and huge cost involved.
In my opinion this gigantic identity project has helped all those Indian residents who did not have access to the basic government facilities due to lack of documents. This project is especially beneficial to those who migrate from rural to urban areas without any identity, seeking for employment. Whether it is a bank, passport, locker facility or booking a rail ticket this card can be used everywhere without the need of carrying any other documents. This project on its completion, will help India to take one more step forward towards digitalized India. It is a technology driven answer to many of India’s social inclusion problems.
Please follow the link to view other benefits of Aadhaar number http://www.aadharcardwala.com/10-advantage-of-having-aadhar-card/ Bibliography

Government expenditure on Aadhaar project is Rs 5,630 crore. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-03-13/news/60086261_1_aadhaar-project-aadhaar-numbers-uidai-project

My Aadhaar Card. Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.myaadhaarcard.in/what-is-aadhaar/

Mandreka, P. What's India's Aadhar card and how can it be put to its maximum use? Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://www.quora.com/Whats-Indias-Aadhar-card-and-how-can-it-be-put-to-its-maximum-use

Aadhaar ID: Number or nuisance? Retrieved September 13, 2015, from https://youtu.be/D-PjmuRZKcE

UIDAI launches online verification of Aadhaar numbers. (2012, February 8). Retrieved September 13, 2015, from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-02-08/news/31037625_1_aadhaar-uidai-national-e-governance