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About DIRI

India has the world’s largest biometric enabled digital identity system in use and in its present form, Aadhaar presents unique challenges as well as represents enormous potential.

DIRI is a targeted and multidisciplinary research initiative to explore key questions around digital identity systems with a focus on making Aadhaar an integral part of welfare programmes & explore private sector applications to achieve growth, efficiency and effectiveness.

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“Digital Transformation Of India Is Perhaps The Most Important Development Priority…………Our Work At DIRI Aims To Ensure Digital Identity Benefits All Stakeholders Of The Society And Create The Infrastructure To Make Data A Public Good.”

Professor Bhagwan Chowdhry – Executive Director, DIRI

Our research on digital identity focuses on three interconnected themes — digital identity & the individual, anonymization & aggregation of data and leveraging data & identity for public welfare.

Our Publications

Working Papers | Diri

Aadhaar and data privacy: biometric identification and anxieties of recognition in India

Pawan Singh

01 Oct 2019

MNREGA is World’s largest workfare program launched in 2006 to provide employment to rural poor who enrol under it. Click to read more.

Sumit Agarwal, Shradhey Parijat Prasad, Nishka Sharma, Prasanna Tantri

02 Apr 2019

The functioning of PDS in Indian states of Bihar, West Bengal, Chattisgarh and Odisha has improved owing to the switch from paper ration cards to digital ones. Click to read more.

Rakesh Allu, Sarang Deo, Sripad Devalkar

01 Jul 2018

This study seeks to understand the issues that emerge when new-age digital systems, built from scratch interact with legacy systems in e-governance contexts.

Sachin Garg and Isha Mahajan

01 Feb 2019

Published Papers | Diri

Paradoxes of Intermediation in Aadhaar: Human Making of a Digital Infrastructure

Bidisha Chaudhuri

02 May 2020

Working Papers | Diri

Extracting the User’s Perception about Aadhaar from Print Media Articles

Anirudh Syal, Navanth Saharia, Nandini Seth

03 May 2020

Book Chapters

#24

Blogs and Op-eds

#10

Data Briefs

Journal Papers

Working Papers

Firstpost and Aadhar

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India Health Dashboard

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NREGA Distress

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Aadhar in Newsmedia

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World Class Team

Guided by a steering committee of eminent policymakers, academicians, industry leaders and commentators, the small and tightly-knit but growing team at the DIRI enjoys working on research and policy issues.