Nandan Nilekani makes a difference yet again: Takes up the ambitious Govt UIC Project

Nandan Manohar Nilekani takes up the central government’s ‘Unique Identification Card’ (UIC) Project, quitting Infosys Technologies Ltd as a Co-chairman and board of directors, after  co-founding  and serving the company for 28 successful years. His resignation would be effective from July 9, 2009. He has been assigned the status of cabinet minister while he heads the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). He has mammoth shareholdings worth Rs 3,476 crore in Infosys.

What exactly is UIC project?

The Rs150,000 crore project aims to equip every Indian with a Biometric Unique Identification Card, similar to social security number in the US. This would assign a permanent unique number which will remain the permanent identifier of the person right from birth till death of the individual. It will rule out the need to have different identification card like PAN Card, ration card, Electoral Identity Card etc. Also it will take away the worry of producing multiple documentary proofs of identity to avail different government and private services like opening a bank account or buying a new SIM card or while taking any health benefits etc. It is also expected to play an important role to curb terrorism. This ambitious project is expected to be completed in 3 years.

What will the card have?

The card will contain the details like Name, Date of Birth, sex, address, marital status, photo, finger print and a chip which will have all the necessary personal data of the card-holder.

This will be based on a sophisticated application called SCOSTA. An electronic device used for keeping the information which can be viewed only by authorized people.

The card is designed by the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmadabad capturing the essence of India, taking inspiration from various motifs and rangoli patterns, blending it with various colours of Indian textile and Indian ethos.

This project is ranked at par with the Sam Pitroda’s telecom project, which subsequently turned into the IT and telecom revolution.

As we see, the history being revisited and the 54 year old leader take a different turn in his career to bring in another revolution in India, Nandan Nilekani’s mentor N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder, Infosys says “I feel it’s like a younger brother going out of home, seeking nobler aspirations. It’s a big loss to Infosys. But our mindset is such that we expect our people to put the interests of the country ahead of the company’s or the individuals.”

With the project being led by a man of such high business acumen and rich experience, people’s expectation would be to see this UIC project to be a success.

You might also like to Read:

1. Popular Faces of Indian Journalism – 2