In 2008, Mishro Devi, 69, was the first Indian to own a smart card issued by the Union government, providing proof of her national identity. She says though she never used the document, she has preserved the “red card” as a souvenir.

Mishro and several hundred residents of her village – Pooth Khurd in north-west Delhi’s Bawana – were among the first few lakhs of people to be allotted the Multipurpose National Identity Card (MNIC) by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under a pilot project 17 years ago.

The card, with an embedded electronic chip, had Mishro’s biometric details: 10 fingerprints, an iris scan, her photograph, and thumb impression. It also had details such as her name, date of birth, parents’ names, place of birth, place of issue, and 10-year validity period.

The issu

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