According to head of the unique ID project, Mr. Nandan Nilekani the unique ID number of a person under the Unique Identification Number Authority of India project is meant for identifying the person, and is not proof of the person's citizenship.

An official release said, “The unique ID number is optional and will not be proof of the person's citizenship, Nilekani said during a meeting with senior Maharashtra Government officials at Mantralaya. Nilekani is very hopeful that the unique ID system would cover at least 60 crore Indians within 12 to 18 months.”

The union government has planned to seek help from banks, Election Commission, state governments and other organizations to collect data about the people. The State Chief Secretary will head the high level committee, appointed to monitor this work.

Nilekani has hoped that the unique ID system would cover at least 60 crore Indians within 12 to 18 months.

The authority was set up in order to assign a unique number to each citizen of India, which will include name, birth date, address, family details and finger prints of the person.