I’d be happy to run a bootcamp, says Nandan Nilekani

Bengaluru: The UIDAI is one of India’s largest ever digitisation projects, begun with the lofty aim of providing every Indian with ID proof. With 900 million members, they’re closer to their goal than anybody has been before and Bengaluru’s own Nandan Nilekani is the man we need to thank. On Monday evening, Mr Nilekani and Mr Viral Shah, who co-authored the book – Rebooting India, took their audience through the five years of unceasing persistence it cost them to bring the Aadhaar card to every doorstep.

Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, MD, Biocon, rightly said that ‘the labyrinth’ through which they navigated is enough to leave anyone feeling hopeless, although Nilekani made light of his achievements saying, “I’d be happy to run a bootcamp!”

Rebooting India outlines a vision for India, one where every village ‘kirana’ shop is equipped with a microATM, so banking facilities are available to everybody. It is a vision where every little nook and cranny of the country has an asphalted road and a decent electricity – the latter still remains a dream for so many.

Mr Nilekani, in response to a question from the audience, brushed off those critics who call the Aadhaar an infringement on privacy, saying, “I find them hypocritical. They travel abroad and give their passport details to foreign governments, how does that safeguard privacy? They use iPads, which violate your privacy too. Why then, are they talking about the Aadhaar, where all information is given voluntarily?”

It was a journey filled with challenges at every step. The UIDAI team included names like Mr Viral Shah, who, as Nilekani pointed out, worked for nine months without salary, and Google’s Sanjay Jain. “None of these people did it for the money, they did it because they wanted to see a change.”

Mr Nilekani curtly dismissed claims about his closeness with PM Narendra Modi, saying, “People like to trivialise the issue. It’s not about a proximity to the Gandhi family or to Narendra Modi. I met Modi when the NDA government came to power and he asked very pertinent questions about the UIDAI, which he had rolled out in Gujarat in a big way. Of course, I don’t want to hold myself responsible for Modi’s decision, his mind had been made up much earlier, but I suppose my meeting with him did help!”

Net neutrality is a big concern, he admitted. Akin to a new-age colonisation, Nilekani said, “We might have a handful of companies in India controlling our digital infrastructure. It is a risk. The UIDAI is, in many ways, a counter to that.”

The process of bringing the Aadhaar card to every citizen meant dealing with politicians and bureaucrats – the latter being set in their ways and the former being at the mercy of their secretaries.
“Within the IAS, it’s all about seniority,” said Mr Nilekani. “You become an officer a minute before me and I’m stuck calling you ‘sir’ for the rest of my life,” he explained.

“Bureaucrats do need to ensure that they cross their Ts and dot their Is before they make a decision, otherwise they will find a CBI official at their doorsteps 20 years from now. We’re looking at a system that needs to be changed from the ground up. If that doesn’t happen, both politicians (it takes a very brave one to defy his bureaucrats) and the bureaucracy will find themselves with feet of clay.”

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