New Delhi: IT icon Nandan Nilekani,
handpicked by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to create a
national database of identity details of citizens, feels he is
beginning a "new life" and the world around him would be
different from what it used to be in Infosys.
Nilekani, whose appointment marks induction of a
competent corporate professional into a Cabinet rank post,
said the assignment will be full of challenges as it will
require him to interface with a large number of people in the
government circle.
"It is a new life for me," he said when asked whether
he would miss Infosys, a company he had co-founded 28 years
ago along with NR Narayana Murthy, now chief mentor of the IT
giant.
Asked how he will cope up with the multi-layered decision
making process in the government circle, Nilekani, who
resigned from Infosys to lead the newly created Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIAI) said he knew it would
be a different world.
"I certainly think it is a different world," the
54-year-old IT expert said expressing confidence that his
friend Ram Sevak Sharma who takes over as Secretary and CEO of
UIAI will help him navigate the Government system.
Sharma, who did his Masters degree in Mathematics from
IIT, Kanpur and Computer Science from California University,
is a 1978 batch IAS officer.
"I have my friend Ram Sevak to help me navigate through
the system. We understand that to accomplish something, it
requires authority to interface with large number of people
and to create a compelling benefit story, to articulate that
(and) to build a consensus," Nilekani, who took charge of UIAI
on Thursday, said.
The government had earlier appointed him the chairman of
the UIAI, a cabinet rank post, and allocated Rs 120 crore for
the ambitious project in the current fiscal.
Nilekani, also author of the book 'Imagining India: Ideas
for the New Century', said the first set of unique
identification numbers will be issued to the citizens within
12-18 months as announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
in his Budget speech.
He said his team would be a judicious mix of talents from
government as well as private sector.
"The project would require advance technology as it will
involve biometrics and parallel processing. So we will also
look for globally renowned technical experts in certain
areas," he said.
The identification numbers, Nilekani said, will not only
provide an identity to citizens but also help them in
obtaining benefits of government schemes.
On the total budget of the project, he said it would be
premature on his part to comment it. "We are very confident
that whatever is spent on this project will be minimum than
what we recoup by the efficiency gains in the economy."
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, July 26, 2009, 10:55