Seeking to set at rest controversy over Aadhaar Card, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia says that the UID is a number and not an identity card.

Talking to a news agency in New Delhi he said that the number is a biometric record, which is centrally stored.

He said the Aadhaar number comes in the form of a card but that card is not an identity card. The Government has recently constituted a Group of Ministers to look into the issue.

Mr. Ahluwalia said there is a separate proposal to prepare national multipurpose identity card, which is being run by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

He said the Government has mandated the Unique Identification Authority of India to enroll and collect biometric details of 60 crore population of the country.

The biometric details of rest of the 61 crore population would be collected under the National Population Register project.