India to provide Rs.300mn to implement unified digital ID project

The Cabinet this week cleared the path to secure a Rs.300 million grant from India to implement Sri Lanka Unified Digital Identity Framework.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his capacity as the country’s Minister of Technology on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India in this regard.

The draft MOU has already been cleared by the Attorney General, according to the Government Information Department.

The government has decided to prioritise the implementation of a Unitary Digital Identity Framework for Sri Lanka as a national-level programme. 

Under the proposed Unitary Digital Identity Framework, it is expected to introduce a personal identity verification device based on biometric data, a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices. 

Responding to concerns on the potential risks to national security with the involvement of India in the project, the Cabinet Co-Spokesperson and Plantation Minister Ramesh Pathirana dismissed such concerns stressing that the programme would not grant India the access to any sensitive information.