Earlier quoted context omitted.
I disagree. It may be misused, but the amount of abuse of poor people due to not having an identity is so much worse. Poverty itself is already very dangerous. But poverty without having the ability to prove your own existance is so much more dangerous. Having an own passport or ID card is a big step for many people who had never any official papers about their being. As the Wikipedia article details, the system may…
Applying rocket-science on poor people who don't understand social-profiling issues and intense racial issues sounds like a potent mix to me. System would not work at all, is different from "system may not work fully accurate" because well - you should read the fluff in their tender documents before you lose more tax-payers money.
Re: India’s identity scheme: The magic number
#31A biometric database is hardly rocket science anymore. The main problems to overcome are likely not technical but administrative/political. I am pretty sure it will not work at first and for some time, as said political problems will need time to get (hopefully) worked out. As other posters said, only for all gov't offices to start to actually accept the UID will probably take many years. But its a good start.