1. Securing Property Titles with Biometric Technology The Case of Bangalore Nafis Hasan Azim Premji University – Bangalore, India

2. Field Site Total Population – 8.4 million people Slum Population – 14% # Slums in Bangalore Govt Org# Slums BBMP542 KSCB473 BCLC778

3. Policy Premise Recent GoI housing policies for slums in urban cities propose the use of biometrics linked property titles for uniquely identifying beneficiaries for upgraded housing for a “slum free India” – Ex. BSUP under JNNURM and RAY What’s new? Proposed Security of Tenure Biometric Card Title document stating conditional rights of use but not alienation

4. Assumptions Biometric linked titles can prevent ‘leakage’ and duplication of services and allow for interoperability between services linking a single beneficiary to multiple services. Such stronger forms of titling will lead to investment in housing and moving out of slums

5. Titling – Tenure Security - Investments What kind of titles lead to housing upgradation? Two Views: Legal titles Tenure Security Investment in housing According to the adherents of tenure legalization, the provision of property titles establishes the tenure security needed for residents to invest in housing improvement, while also enabling land markets and facilitating access to credit (de Soto) Formal / Informal Titles Perceived Tenure Security Investment in housing Others have maintained that perceived rather than legal tenure security is the more fundamental mechanism driving housing improvement and hence the development of slum settlements. Sources include signs of goodwill by government officials communicated through documents or even oral assurances and the provision of services (Gelder, Payne, etc.)

6. Documents and Tenure Security Q1. What significance do documents of varying legality linked to property rights have for tenure security and investments in slums of Bangalore? Q2. Can the use of biometrics to titling documents and other services lead to an increase in perceived tenure security among slum dwellers?

7. Methodology Slum Visits Building a network with reps and activists Structured Survey on four broad indicators with all categorical questions Identifying purposive sample for Pilot Study based on variety of documents available PRE STUDY Perceived probability and fear of eviction Access to Credit Investments in housing maintenance Investment in Consumer Durables Experiences relating to biometric enrolment STUDY Semi-structured interviews with survey respondents Study of the institutions delivering biometric cards

8. Perceived Tenure Security - Survey Nature of documents Social Composition Historicity Geographic Location 150 respondents were administered the survey Test group includes those with Bio-metric cards*, ‘Hakku Patras’, ‘Guritina cheetis’ and other documents. Control group have no property related documents but are similar in other respects since sample taken from the same slums. *Under 5% of target slum dwellers have received bio metric cards

9. Perceived Tenure Security Hakku Patras – Document of conditional rights issued by a government authority granting access to the “site”, “plot” or “housing unit” and never access to the land Guritina Cheetis – Letters certifying slum residential address of slum dwellers without offering rights Documents of varying legality induce varying perceived security of tenure among slum residents Categories are not watertight but there is a predominance of one type every decade Results are directionally significant

10. ‘Hakku Patra’ is still the most sought after document to ensure real or perceived tenure security. Some form of titling and tenure security also seem to impact critical choices (School education and demand for governmental services) in addition to investment in housing Slum dwellers are confused about the nature of rights and tenure security associated with the bio metric card. Perceived Tenure Security - Interviews

11. Biometrics and Tenure Security Q2. Can the use of biometrics to titling documents and other services lead to an increase in perceived tenure security among slum dwellers?

12. Field Observations Why are biometric linked ID cards not creating a sense of security among people? Municipal Corporation – Beneficiary list Technology Partner – Biometrics capture and card Parastatal Agency – Bio metric card delivery Architecture

13. Titles and Unique ID DUPLICATE Unique ID “Hakku Patra” – Record of Rights Biometric ID

14. Alternative Architecture TP Enrolment Agency Enrolments Card Issuance Maintaining DB Municipal Corps Housing / Sanitation / Food Authentication Maintaining beneficiary DB Adapted from UID Architecture

15. Alternative Governance Proposed Biometric Property Title document should explicitly state legal rights Devolution of Municipal powers to zone and ward levels to make planning and implementation closer to the people Delinking entitlement provider from identification agency (make it competitive like the UID) and put under Centre for e- governance Create enrolment dashboards and use biometrics to link databases and make them interoperable Municipal Corporation ZonesWards

16. Next Steps Recommendation to the government via a consultative three member committee panel on 30 th May 2015 Increase the sample size and conduct a factor analysis to determine Eigen values of variables determining perceived tenure security Attempt a component attribution analysis to determine specific impact of the biometric variable in the model Deploy a comparative framework to further understand the socio-techno aspects of the biometrics in governance approach

17. Thanks!