[Reader-list] Nilekani to Head UIDAI, Gets Cabinet Rank- 135

[Taha Mehmood]

Congress is acting as if they own the country. Could anyone please ask
them under what procedure of public scrutiny was Nilekani allowed to
acquire a Cabinet birth. Or is it is the prerogative of ruling
dispensation to appoint anyone as they please. Could then a BJP
majority govt appoint someone like Mohan Bhagwat at some post on
internal security with a cabinet berth?

I have tremendous amount of respect for what Nilekani has done for the
country as far as of the business of IT is concerned but could this be
made into a premise for him to be given a public post, involving
public money???

Why is the BJP the so-called 'party 'with a difference' sounding more
like a shadow government with shadow ministers  and  praising the
policies of government in power?




http://www.indiajournal.com/pages/event.php?id=7555

Nilekani to Head UIDAI, Gets Cabinet Rank
      Date Submitted: Thu Jul 02, 2009

NEW DELHI - Infosys Technologies’ Co-Chairman Nandan Nilekani was June
25 appointed Chairman of an Authority with Cabinet Minister’s rank to
steer the ambitious scheme for creating a multi-purpose unique
identification database of citizens.

54-year-old Nilekani, co-founder of the leading IT firm along with N R
Narayana Murthy 28 years ago, will head the Unique Identification
Database Authority of India (UIDAI) under the aegis of the Planning
Commission.

He will have the rank and status of the Cabinet Minister, Information
and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters after a Cabinet
meeting.

The scheme is aimed at providing a unique identity to the targeted
population of the flagship schemes to ensure that the benefits reach
them, she said.

A visionary and a thinker, Nilekani, who gets an annual compensation
of over $175,000 and whose net worth is $1.3 billion,  resigned his
membership of Infosys Board of Directors following his appointment.

His colleagues in Infosys top management Mohandas Pai and Kris
Gopalakrishnan said his exit from Infosys would be a loss to the
organization but a gain to the country.

Announcing his appointment, the PMO said  Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh has invited  Nilekani to chair an authority that will create a
unique identification database of the country’s citizens.

Nilekani, born in Sirsi in Uttara Kannada in Karnataka, did his early
education in Bangalore and Dharwad before moving to Mumbai to study
Electrical Engineering in IIT, Bombay.

The PMO said the functioning of the authority and activities to be
performed by the UIA would serve multiple objectives.

The authority shall have the responsibility to lay down plans and
policies to implement the unique identification scheme in the country.

It shall own and operate the unique identification number database and
be responsible for its updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis.

Sonia Gandhi said the Authority shall have responsibility to lay down
plans and policies to implement the Unique Identification Scheme
(UID), shall own and operate the Unique Identification number database
and be responsible for its updation and maintenance on an ongoing
basis,” Sonia said.

The Authority will identify the targeted groups for various flagship
programs, she added.

The flagship schemes of the UPA include the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health
Mission and Bharat Nirman.

The unique identification number would ensure that any lacuna in these
schemes is removed so that the benefits do not reach those they are
not meant for.

The Government had earmarked Rs 1,000 Million in the interim Budget
presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Parliament on
February 16 to kickstart its ambitious Unique Identification Project.

The government has been working on improving arrangements to ensure
that development deliverables reach the intended beneficiaries,
Mukherjee had said.

In order to do so efficiently, effectively and economically, a
comprehensive system of unique identity had been worked out, he had
added.

The Government also plans to set up state units of UIDAI, headed by
state UID Commissioners.                                  (PTI)