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ShareNew Delhi: A month after taking over as National Unique Identity Authority (NUID) chairman, Nandan Nilekani lets slip that his present job is "like going back in time" for him. The reference is clear, after nurturing IT giant Infosys from scratch, he finds himself in the same position a few years later.
"This is a different assignment in many ways for me, apart from the private to government shift, and of course shifting cities from Bangalore to Delhi," he says. "While being part of the government, this authority is a start-up and we are making systems as we go along," he said.
While rumours are rife over his staff strength and recruitment drive, Nilekani confesses that although he is "interviewing people everyday", his existing staff, including his driver, is just five people.
Jharkhand cadre IAS Ram Sewak Sharma and Srikar Sridhar,formerly of the Bangalore Corporation, are the two officers on board. "Like all start ups we are looking for people who are enthusiastic, believe in team spirit and are interested in staying with us for the long run," he said. Any applicants from Infosys? "No," says Nilekani. "We are looking at a wide variety of people. I am amazed at the talent which is available in the government," he said. Candidates from the Indian Revenue Service, audits and accounts and even the postal department are being screened.
Nilekani's start-up analogy is taken further by his bare office with empty shelves. "We are looking for both office space and a home for me. I still commute to Bangalore during weekends," he says. Bangalore in fact will be the technical centre for the UID project with eight other regional hubs coming up in different cities.
"This job still requires an adjustment for me since in my previous job I had my systems and processes in place," he says. "I do miss my Infosys colleagues, especially when it comes to bouncing ideas off them, but everyone in Delhi has been welcoming," he says.
When told that his book, Imagining India: Ideas for a New Century, was flying off bookshelves after his appointment, he confessed that he hadn't had the time to check out the sales figures.
"The idea is to come up with a system of identity numbers for all residents of India. It is a voluntary system which will induce people into the system," he says. "I don't see this number subsuming other numbers, but as an addition to others. For example, a passport will have a passport number, and the UID along with it," he says.
A month is not a long time in the working of a government department to come up with results, but Nilekani appears conscious of the fact that more is expected of him.
