New Delhi, Aug. 12 : Eleven members of a council constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advise the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) met here on Wednesday.

The council is expected to advise the UIDAI on the program, methodology and implementation to ensure coordination between ministries, departments, stakeholders and partners.

The council, headed by the Prime Minister has on its board finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Sharad Pawar, Home
(Interior) Minister P. Chidambaram, Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna, Law and Justice Minister M. Veerappa Moily, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Minister C. P. Joshi, Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani.

Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Technologies, who took charge as the chairman of the UIDAI last month had said the first set of Unique Identification Numbers, would be issued to the citizens within 12 to 18 months. (ANI)