[Reader-list] Identification Authority may get more funds in budget- 136

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

When there are all these claims in the media that Naxals are active in
160 out of 604 administrative districts then how will Nandan
Nilekani's team carry out their survey for the preparation of a
natonal population register?

Nandan Nilekani, it seems, is not bothered about these small
logistical questions. He seems to have started his work- 'About 150
professionals are being hired, mostly from outside the government, to
function as the core team and kick-start the massive project, which
was in the offing for the past six years.'

Why people are being hired from outside the government? Who are these
150 professionals?

 I would like to presume that a census survey is a delicate matter
which should be handled by the office of Registrar General of India.
Who are these people that are hired 'from outside'? One wonders how
many of them are from Infosys, Reuters, NCAER and all other
organizations where Nilekani had worked before?

So great....not only we have a man who heads an amorphous agency
regarding an extremely sensitive issue relevant to all Indians and not
only he gets a cabinet level berth in terms of status but now he
starts to hire people at will, it seems.

May I ask, why is this authority alone given a power to hire people
from outside?

Would it not be great to take out such tenders for every ministry? Why
not give Ministry of Petroleum to Mukesh Ambani? I am sure he is a
distinguished Indian who will not only bring a wealth of experience to
the national level but also make sure that his ministry runs like an
efficient machine? I think the such a move may lead to a craving for a
feeling of 'sacrifice' amongst other members of the Ambani clan too,
wouldn't it? Then lets give Mukesh an element of flexibility to hire
people from outside as well as inside? Maybe, afterwards  we could
start thinking of giving ministry of Finance to someone like a KV
Kamath or a Vikram Pandit. The mere fact that these people are who
they claim to be must be enough for our sarkaar to give them entire
departments.

Anyways ....for more on UIDAI  please read the story below.

Regards

Taha




In the meanwhile


http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/06/stories/2009070656061100.htm

Identification Authority may get more funds in budget

Vinay Kumar

To be housed in a plush building in New Delhi

NEW DELHI: The government’s ambitious project to set up the Unique
Identification Authority of India, to be headed by Nandan Nilekani, is
likely to get Rs. 200 crore more in the Union budget for 2009-10.

The authority, coming under the Planning Commission, will be
accommodated in a plush building of a public sector undertaking at
Connaught Place here, informed sources in the government said.

The interim budget had earmarked Rs. 100 crore as the initial corpus.

About 150 professionals are being hired, mostly from outside the
government, to function as the core team and kick-start the massive
project, which was in the offing for the past six years.

The sources, however, could not estimate the cost of giving a unique
identity number to nearly 1.17 billion citizens.

The project will be implemented over the next three years, and
estimates by industry sources have put the cost at Rs.10,000 crore.

The choice of Mr. Nilekani, who quit Infosys Technologies to head the
authority, appears to be along the same lines as the former Prime
Minister, Rajiv Gandhi’s decision to handpick Sam Pitroda to head the
technology mission that resulted in information technology and telecom
revolution.

The new authority will have the flexibility to draw talent from the
private sector and build on the core team’s strength. It will help to
identify beneficiaries of schemes such as the National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Public Distribution System.

The government implemented a pilot project last year for issuing
multi-purpose national identity card (MNIC) in districts of nearly a
dozen States and a Union Territory, mostly in the border areas.

Nearly 12 lakh cards were issued in the select areas of Jammu and
Kashmir, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Assam, Puducherry and Delhi.

The project, initiated by the National Democratic Alliance government,
was one of the pet projects of the then Home Minister, L. K. Advani,
who reckoned that it could help to check illegal immigration in
several parts of the country, which still poses a serious threat to
the national security. However, the setting up of the UIDAI was
speeded up after the Mumbai terror attacks.

The sources said the UIDAI would work on the pattern of the MNIC,
focussing on giving identity cards, on a priority basis, to citizens
living in the coastal and border States.

To begin with, the project is expected to embrace cover Gujarat, Goa,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and
West Bengal, and the Union Territories of Dadara and Nagar Haveli,
Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Andaman and Nicobar.

People in these States and Union Territories might get their cards by
the middle of 2010.

According to the 11th report of the Second Administrative Reforms
Commission, the project will enable citizens to avail themselves of
subsidies on food, energy and education depending on their
entitlements.

The unique identity card and number, similar to the social security
number in the U.S., which was launched in 1936, will require a massive
database.

The United Kingdom had spent a huge amount for creating the National
Health Scheme, which still has inefficiencies.

In Europe, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Sweden,
Lithuania, Switzerland and the U.K. have forged a population register,
and residents are obliged to register their basic information.

India happens to be one of the countries where different documents
such as passport, voter ID card, driving licence and PAN card are used
by the people to establish their identity. The aim is to ultimately
have one national identity card that will incorporate the details of a
citizen in the national database.