Nandan Nilekani – a welcome addition to the Indian political system

Nandan Nilekani – the co-founder of one of the biggest Indian IT companies Infosys has resigned from the company to take up a rank of a cabinet minister in the government. He is heading the UIC (Unique Identification Card) scheme. This is meant to provide a National foolproof biometric Identity card to each and every citizen of India. They may begin by using the election lists and take it further to include the minors and others left out. It is a huge task and a big ask and who better to do justice to the project than Mr. Nilekani, a sterling person from India’s corporate scene.

The first part of UIC is aimed to provide IDs to the poorest and most underprivileged of our society. This is to ensure that the multitude of schemes meant for them are implemented fairly and the benefits percolate down to those who are meant to benefit from them like the NREG ( National Rural Guarantee Scheme), PDS (Public Distribution System), SSA ( Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan) and so on. This would reduce pilferage and would aim at better utilization of public funds.

In the long term, this scheme would also help in curbing terrorism. This is an excellent move on the part of the PM to induct capable professionals to help with such initiatives. The next step would be to give him clear-cut objectives and leeway to operate without interference. Really a welcome step !