The chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Nandan Nilekani has sought the help of researchers in implementing the project in which each Indian citizen is to get ID cards with a unique number.

He said that the registrars are being appointed to start the compilation process.

Nilekani was speaking at the Microsoft India Research Symposium Techvista and said, "There is no way we can do this alone. We are going to need help from all of you."

"We are working towards developing the capability to process a million or more requests every night. We would look at online authentication of identity in seconds. This is a game-changing project which will bring about massive change," he added.

UIDAI will manage a central ID Data Repository and Karnataka will be the first state to come under this project.

He unveiled a new computer science portal, ResearchAndYou. com at TechVista. Microsoft said that the portal is meant for bringing together the small number of CS researchers and the large pool of potential research talent at the Bachelor's degree level.

The portal will enable students in the country get in touch with the country's leading researchers to seek guidance and information to start a career in research.

The Microsoft Research India facility has expressed its interest in working with the UIDAI project. The facility aims to work on the project and take it as a societal challenge. The facility has 40 employees in India.