Nandan Unfazed, says UID on Track

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Publication: The Economic Times Delhi;Date: Oct 10, 2011;Section: Front Page;Page: 1

Nandan Unfazed, says UID on Track Infy co-founder says angst over such a transformational project inevitable
OUR BUREAU NEW DELHI Nandan Nilekani has refused to join issue with mounting criticism directed at his UIDAI project from some official quarters, saying that some angst was inevitable in an exercise of such a transformational sweep. The former Infosys boss and one of Indias most feted private sector managers joined the government in 2009 as chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, a body tasked with giving every Indian resident a unique 12-digit Aadhaar number and whose work could in the future alter the way the state spends some . 300,000 crore ($60 billion) each year. After a dream cast off, the project appears to have encountered choppy waters in recent weeks, with some of the authoritys plans raising the hackles of the home and the finance ministries and most recently, the Planning Commission. But Nilekani, who holds the rank of a cabinet minister and reports directly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, made light of the seeming disagreements and said he had not seen any evidence or indication that the project was being sought to be derailed by vested interests. UIDAI Working Within Limits, Says Nilekani This seems natural to me, Nilekani told ET. When you are undertaking a project of such transformation, it obviously brings change that is viewed by different interests in different ways. The finance ministry last month rejected the UIDAIs request for additional funds to capture biometrics of 1.2 billion residents through its registrars, citing duplication of expenditure. The home ministry has questioned the security of the biometrics of 100 million people the UIDAI has already captured. The Planning Commission, accountable to Parliament for the authoritys expenditure, has said the UIDAI structure is against government procedures. But Nilekani said the UIDAI functioned within limits delegated to it by the prime minister and scrupulously followed all government procedures. The autonomy that has been given to us its not an autonomy of independence So within all these rules, the autonomy is only saying that you can spend up to x crore, he said. We are an attached office of the Planning Commission and the powers we have are delegated by the appropriate authorities. So my power to do what I do is delegated by the PM in his capacity as the minister for planning, he added. Nilekani, 56, one of the co-founders of Infosys, is a rare case of an accomplished manager leaving the private sector and his experience is closely watched across corporate India as to whether it will inspire or dissuade others from joining the government in the future. The former Infosys cochairman, an IIT-Bombay alumnus, said that he agreed to take up the job to lead the UID project at the invitation of the prime minister and only after Singh had agreed to a set of operating principles. These included him reporting directly to the PM, and having full functional autonomy. I can say with complete confidence that the PM and the cabinet have fully supported and endorsed those principles. I am operating with those principles and will continue to do so, he said, adding that he had met the prime minister some two weeks ago to update him on the projects progress.

NANDAN NILEKANI Chairman, UIDAI

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