Prime minister Manmohan Singh has decided to take a direct hand in the unique identification (UID) project headed by former Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani. Concerned over the red tape encountered by Nilekani in launching the project, the government has decided to form an empowered
group of ministers (EGoM) to be headed by Singh himself with the idea of fast-tracking it. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and home minister P Chidambaram will be part of the EGoM.
Currently, the UID project comes under an inter-ministerial council, where the decision-making process is slow. “Nilekani wanted single-window clearance for faster implementation of the project. Keeping this in mind, the government has firmed up a plan to form an EGoM, whose decisions will be final,” said a government official close to the development.
Even though Nilekani was appointed chairman of the UID authority in June with the rank of cabinet minister, till this month his staff did not even have an office. While Nilekani was given a room in the Planning Commission, many of his staffers were sitting outside as they were not allotted space. Space has since been found in the LIC building at Connaught Place.
Given the high-profile nature of the appointment, the project seemed destined for a quick takeoff, but Nilekani found that he was reduced to meeting individual ministers about possible data sources for the UID. Nilekani also had to deal with two nodal entities. While UID is the home ministry’s baby and needs its support for implementation, Nilekani’s department has been attached to the Planning Commission.
The UID project will give every citizen a multi-purpose biometric ID. The authority will also identify the targeted groups of UPA’s social sector schemes, including the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman.
The unique ID will ensure that benefits flow only to the intended people.
The government has earmarked Rs 120 crore for the project this year. Nilekani has gone on record to say that the first ID will be issued 12-18 months from kickoff, and is likely to cover half the Indian population within five years. In the initial years, the UID will be voluntary. It will ultimately serve as identity proof for all purposes.
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