[Reader-list] IAS officers keen to join Nilekani’s unique task- 138

[Taha Mehmood]

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/management/ias-officers-keen-join-nilekani%E2%80%99s-unique-task-427

 By KA Badarinath

There is a queue of government officials wanting to get into the
Unique Identification Authority of India, to be headed by Nandan
Nilekani.
The Infosys czar is slated to join the authority on July 14 or 15. The
authority is tasked with the issue of all-purpose, unique
identification cards to all Indian citizens.
According to a senior official who wants to remain unnamed, Nilekani
has already given the government a list of up to 50 IT professionals
from the private sector, including Infosys, he want to bring in.
Nevertheless, several IAS officers are believed to be interested in
joining his team. Some have already sent their applications through
the chief secretaries of states.
Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar has shortlisted a few people but
wants Nilekani to take the final call on them.
The authority will have nowhere near the Rs 10,000 crore outlay that
has been speculated about in media. In the interim budget on February
16, just Rs 100 crore had been earmarked for the authority. It now
appears that the Monday’s full budget will step it up to Rs 200 crore.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh, who handpicked Nilekani for the job, is
believed to be inclined to giving him a free hand in both selecting
his team and running the project.
An office for the authority has already been hired. It will occupy two
floors of the Jeevan Bharti building in the capital’s Connaught Circus
and have state-of-the- art infrastructure.
Nilekani will enjoy the rank of a cabinet minister and directly report
to the prime minister, with concurrent functional reporting to
planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
The economic survey presented to the Lok Sabha on Thursday envisioned
a fully functional authority in three months, completion of issue of
identity cards to all citizens in six months, and the creation of an
integrated database of all actual and potential beneficiaries of
government programmes, subsidies and transfers in one year.
The survey said, “A household ID could be created simultaneously or in
parallel by linking it to a set of unique identifications of
individuals constituting the household. These IDs will form the base
of a multi-applications smart card system that can be used to empower
the poor and ensure that they get the full benefits of all programmes
such as the rural employment guarantee programme, public distribution
system, education, skill development, health services, social
security, fertiliser subsidy, solar lanterns, solar cookers, etc.”
The card with a 16-digit identification will gradually replace other
ID cards now in use, such as the driving licence, voter ID card, and
the permanent account number card. It will be a smart card with 16kb
memory. The card will also have cyber security features to make it
tamper-proof and cloning-proof.
The project envisages preparation of a computerised national register
of Indian citizens which will be updated by linking it to birth and
death registration offices. The updating will also include changes in
address, marital status, name and other details.
The number will remain the permanent identification from birth to
death of an individual. In the beginning, the number will be assigned
to each person on the current electoral rolls. Subsequently, others,
including those below 18 years of age and thus not on the voter list,
will be added.

(With inputs from Vrishti Beniwal)