France, Sept. 30 -- India has rolled out a mammoth program to provide digital health identity to its 1.3 billion people to inject efficiency into its public services. The step also promises to cut medical bills and allow citizens to access their records online.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the project dubbed Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and said it aims to extend universal healthcare through 14-digit unique identification numbers.

The mission "will connect digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other (and) countrymen will now get a digital health identity," Modi said at the launch ceremony earlier in the week.

"With effective and reliable data, medical treatment will be better, and cost will b...