VOA标准英语2009年-India Begins Project to Issue Biometric Id

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
24 September 2009

India has embarked¹ on an ambitious project to give biometric identity cards to its 1.2 billion citizens. If implemented³, the project could help millions of poor people gain easier access to public services. 

Forty-two-year-old Renu Bose came to New Delhi from her village in West Bengal state to work as a house maid, two years ago. She wants to put some of her meager⁴ savings⁵ in a bank to take back to the village when she returns, but she has been unable to open an account.

Bose says the bank wants her to produce some proof of identity, but she has none to offer. She cannot authenticate⁶ her address, because she lives in an illegal slum.

Bose's plight⁷ is familiar to millions of poor people, especially urban migrants who pour into the country's big cities every year, in search of work.  India recognizes many proofs of identity such as driving licenses⁸, passports, birth certificates and ration⁹ cards - but many poor people have none of these. Even if they do have a proof of identity, none are recognized across the country.

The head of Oxfam India, Nisha Agarwal, says a lack of identity is a major problem, especially for urban migrants. As a result, they are excluded from dozens of government programs which offer cheaper food, jobs or other benefits to poor people.

"They remain treated as temporary migrants and, without that piece of paper, some form of identification, they are not able to access many of these government schemes that exist now, that have large funds behind them and could actually make a huge difference in poor people's lives," said Agarwal.

The government has embarked on a massive project to address their problems. In the next four years, it plans to provide all its citizens with a national identity number. The unique number will be put on an identity card which will have biometric authentication¹⁰, such as fingerprints¹¹ and photographs. The data will be stored online, creating the biggest such national database in the world.

 
Nandan Nilekani, a cofounder of Infosys Technologies Ltd. (File)
One of the country's best know information technology tycoons¹², has taken charge of the Unique Identification Authority of India, which will implement² the project. Nandan Nilekani, a cofounder of one of India's biggest technology companies, Infosys, calls it an "unprecedented¹³ project." 

"Nowhere in the world has a database of a billion people been created with biometrics, and no duplicates. So we are going to be fighting a huge number of technology challenges. Then there is the whole scale issue.  How do you scale this whole thing up to a billion people," said Nilekani.

The project's main aim is to help improve the delivery of inefficient¹⁴ public services and cut corruption¹⁵, which the government admits results in siphoning off benefits intended for the underprivileged. For example, fake identity cards are sometimes used to take away subsidized food grains meant for the poor and which are then sold for profit.

The first identity cards are expected to be issued in about 18 months.

Oxfam's Nisha Agarwal says the project could be a powerful way of introducing transparency, reducing bureaucracy and reaching the poor effectively. But she cautions that it must be implemented in a manner in which nobody is left out.

"It is very important it is done in an inclusive manner. Otherwise it will have the opposite effect of excluding large chunks¹⁶ of poor people and they could become even worse off than they are today," said Agarwal.

Most poor people, like housemaid Renu Bose, are unaware¹⁷ that such a project is being implemented. But when told about it, she sounds happy.

She says, whenever she has tried to get some proof of identity in Delhi, she has been told she is too old and nothing can be done. She hopes a unique identity number may change that.

1 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

2 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

3 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

4 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

5 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

6 authenticate   

vt.证明…为真，鉴定

参考例句：

• We would have to authenticate your relationship with the boy.我们必须证实一下您和那个孩子的关系。
• An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting from his imitation.这幅画是凡·高的真迹还是赝品,需由专家来鉴定。

7 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

8 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

9 ration   

n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应

参考例句：

• The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
• We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。

10 authentication   

鉴定，认证

参考例句：

• Computer security technology includes mainly:Authentication,Encryption,Access Control,Auditing and so on.计算机网络安全技术主要有: 认证授权、数据加密、访问控制、安全审计等。

11 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 tycoons   

大君( tycoon的名词复数 )； 将军； 企业巨头； 大亨

参考例句：

• The great tycoons were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. 企业巨头都是激烈的竞争者，他们一心追求钱财和权势。
• Tycoons and their conglomerates are even raising money again on international markets. 企业大亨们以及他们的企业甚至正再次从国际市场上筹集资金。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

14 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

15 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

16 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

17 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。