Nilekani to head Unique Database Authority, gets Cabinet rank

New Delhi, June 25 (PTI) Infosys Technologies'
Co-Chairman Nandan Nilekani was Thursday appointed Chairman of
an Authority with Cabinet minister's rank to steer the
ambitious scheme for creating a multi-purpose unique
identification database of citizens.

54-year-old Nilekani, co-founder of the leading IT
firm along with N R Narayana Murthy 28 years ago, will head
the Unique Identification Database Authority of India (UIDAI)
under the aegis of the Planning Commission.

He will have the rank and status of the Cabinet
minister, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni
told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

The scheme is aimed at providing a unique identity to
the targeted population of the flagship schemes to ensure that
the benefits reach them, she said.

A visionary and a thinker, Nilekani, who gets an
annual compensation of over USD 1.75 lakh and whose net worth
is USD 1.3 billion, resigned his membership of Infosys Board
of Directors following his appointment.

His colleagues in Infosys top management Mohandas Pai
and Kris Gopalakrishnan said his exit from would be a loss to
the organisation but a gain to the country.

Announcing his appointment, the PMO said Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh has invited Nilekani to chair an
authority that will create a unique identification database of
the country's citizens.

Nilekani, born in Sirsi in Uttara Kannada in India's
southern state of Karnataka, did his early education in
Bangalore and Dharwad before moving to Mumbai to study
Electrical Engineering in IIT, Bombay.

The PMO said The functioning of the authority and
activities to be performed by the UIA would serve multiple
objectives.

The authority shall have the responsibility to lay
down plans and policies to implement the unique identification
scheme in the country.

It shall own and operate the unique identification
number database and be responsible for its updation and
maintenance on an ongoing basis.

Sonia said the Authority shall have responsibility to
lay down plans and policies to implement the Unique
Identification Scheme (UID), shall own and operate the Unique
Identification number database and be responsible for its
updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis," Soni said.

The Authority will identify the targeted groups for
various flagship programmes, she added.

The flagship schemes of the UPA include the National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan,
National Rural Health Mission and Bharat Nirman.

The unique identification number would ensure that any
lacuna in these schemes is removed so that the benefits do not
reach those they are not meant for.

The Government had earmarked Rs 100 crore in the
interim Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
in Parliament on February 16 to kickstart its ambitious Unique
Identification Project.

The government has been working on improving
arrangements to ensure that development deliverables reach the
intended beneficiaries, Mukherjee had said.

In order to do so efficiently, effectively and
economically, a comprehensive system of unique identity had
been worked out, he had added.

The Government also plans to set up state units of
UIDAI, headed by state UID Commissioners.

Earlier, an Empowered Group of Ministers had approved
setting up UIDAI with an initial core team in November
2008. PTI Team