MNIC centres will continue to function till mid-2007 so that those left out — “local residents” as opposed to “citizens” — can complete paperwork. Assisting the 300-plus employees from the RGI’s office is a consortium of Bharat Electronics Ltd, ECIL and ITI. The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is providing the cyber technology needed to make the smart cards work.

To make sure that work progresses without a hitch, some of it has been outsourced. For instance, the chip that will store all relevant information will be imported. The card in which the chip will be embedded will also be bought from outside. Personalisation of the card will be done here. “Things will begin moving March onward after the supervising agency’s role has been integrated with the existing process. Delivery of cards will be completed by May,” said a senior official.

The Department of Posts has been roped in for the last mile — delivering the smart cards to the doorsteps.

Assam was initially considered for the pilot project but was left out due to objections from the All Assam Students’ Union. But four tehsils in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir are part of the project. As are Manipur, Goa, parts of Andhra Pradesh and a cluster of villages in Pooth Kalan in north Delhi’s Narela area. Security needs apart, the need for a multipurpose national identity card has been felt for purposes as diverse as applying for a passport or government licences. The ultimate aim — to cover the entire country — is likely to take many years and the government admits as much. Current Census figures put the number of 18-year-olds in India at over 70 crore.