Nandan Nilekani ,
TNN, Dec 26, 2010, 06.51am IST
Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has been named as one of Foreign Policy magazine's 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. In other words, people who had "the big ideas that shaped our world in 2010." Nilekani's big idea is to give every Indian an identity number, which will address issues of inclusion and mobility. The billionaire co-founder of Infosys Technologies is today a self-confessed "plumber of the government". He tells Asha Rai about the ideas and issues that will define the next decade. Excerpts:
How changed would India be by 2020?
Let's look at the big changes that are happening. Demography's the biggest. India's experiencing the demographic dividend. If we look at the next 10 years from a demographic lens, what do you see? You will see this huge population of young people who are very aspirational. Aspirations are being unleashed at every level: the chauffeur wants college education for his child; the maid is saving for her daughter's English education.
The important thing is that this population is future-looking than past-looking. They are looking at how to make their life better and not worrying about something in the past. That's a huge shift. We need to satisfy the aspirations of these people. If we are not able to do that it will have its own consequences. I believe that's going to be the biggest thing of the next decade.
Meeting the aspirations of the Indian young will also have its own strategic implications: you will need to invest in education, health, and infrastructure. You need to urbanize faster. Plus, now it's in our interest to be globalized. If we are going to be largest pool of young people in the world, then you must keep trade and borders open so that our young can serve the world, either by working from here (outsourcing) or by going there (migration). That's the big thing.
What other trends do you foresee?
Mobility, internal and external. Within India , you will see a large number of people moving from rural to urban, from north to south, from middle India to coastal India. Already, we have some 100-120 million migrants. In the next 10 years it will become only more enhanced.
And remember, when a migrant moves and leaves his family behind, it means that people impacted by migration will be four times the number that migrates . This has huge socio-economic consequences.
It builds a remittance economy; the guy sends the money back, the family is no longer poor. It up-ends traditional equations. It's exacerbated by a few things; one is the demographic difference. Central India has higher population growth rates than south and west. The fertility rate of UP is three times that of Kerala. It's staggering that in the same country you have such huge differences. So when the south and the west start ageing, it will have fewer workers, central India will have more and internal migration will be further accentuated by it.
Finally, technology adoption, which in India is very, very high. Indians have found technology as something that helps them in their aspirations. The mobile phone is a classic example. Technology, aspirations, mobility and demographic dividend. For me, those are the defining themes of the next decade.
What's the role of UID in this?
I think 'Aadhaar' (the brand name of UID) is at the centre of this whole thing. You cannot meet your aspirations without having your identity acknowledged. The fact of the matter is, a large number of Indians don't have that acknowledged existence.
There are just 50 million Indians who have a passport -5 % of the population. People who participate in the stock markets must be 2% of the population, bank account holders must be 20% of the population (220 million). If you want to meet all the people's aspirations, you have to include them in the society. To do that, the basic foundation block is identity.
So, we call it 'Aadhaar' or foundation. Aadhaar addresses the mobility issue too. If you are going to be mobile, you need an identity that travels with you. The ability to create a national identity infrastructure is very important in a very mobile society.
What kind of Aadhaar numbers are you looking at?
600 million in the next four years. By that logic, by 2020 every Indian should have a number.
Yes. In our view, there are three basic numbers everybody should have. The Aadhaar number to identify themselves. A mobile number to communicate and a bank account number. In the world of 2020, everybody will have these three numbers and use them as levers for their aspirations.
You don't take a salary. Why?
My salary gets automatically routed to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. That's a better way to do it than the Re 1 salary model, I figured. I am doing this as part of giving back to society. When I come home to Bangalore on weekends, I pay my own way. But I do have a government house and car in Delhi.
Many people in the corporate sector would like to follow in your footsteps?
For my project itself, I have got lots of people as volunteers, on sabbatical from outside. I meet a lot of people who have reached a point in their lives when they would like to contribute to public service if they get the right kind of role. People who have been very successful in business, in corporate and other fields. There's definitely an interest but everybody wants to be in the right role.
What kind of innovations can emerge from India?
One of our objectives is to create an innovation ecosystem. On the Aadhaar infrastructure, you can build applications. Some young kid will come out with a nifty application using Aadhaar on the mobile phone where a group of people will suddenly be able to do something they couldn't do earlier. You build these platforms where you take care of what's in the public good. But we should not be writing the innovations. Innovations should be done by innovators.
What do you see as the one overarching idea of the next decade?
The defining meta idea is that Indians in the next 10 years will think more of their future than of the past and believe me that's important. It sounds simple but it changes everything.
Will politics change too?
Obviously. If people are going to be talking of their future-of how it will be better than in the past-politics has to respond to that.
Read more: 'Three numbers will define us: UID, mobile and bank account' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Three-numbers-will-define-us-UID-mobile-and-bank-account/articleshow/7165555.cms#ixzz19CJb3Ayh
Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has been named as one of Foreign Policy magazine's 'Top 100 Global Thinkers'. In other words, people who had "the big ideas that shaped our world in 2010." Nilekani's big idea is to give every Indian an identity number, which will address issues of inclusion and mobility. The billionaire co-founder of Infosys Technologies is today a self-confessed "plumber of the government". He tells Asha Rai about the ideas and issues that will define the next decade. Excerpts:
How changed would India be by 2020?
Let's look at the big changes that are happening. Demography's the biggest. India's experiencing the demographic dividend. If we look at the next 10 years from a demographic lens, what do you see? You will see this huge population of young people who are very aspirational. Aspirations are being unleashed at every level: the chauffeur wants college education for his child; the maid is saving for her daughter's English education.
The important thing is that this population is future-looking than past-looking. They are looking at how to make their life better and not worrying about something in the past. That's a huge shift. We need to satisfy the aspirations of these people. If we are not able to do that it will have its own consequences. I believe that's going to be the biggest thing of the next decade.
Meeting the aspirations of the Indian young will also have its own strategic implications: you will need to invest in education, health, and infrastructure. You need to urbanize faster. Plus, now it's in our interest to be globalized. If we are going to be largest pool of young people in the world, then you must keep trade and borders open so that our young can serve the world, either by working from here (outsourcing) or by going there (migration). That's the big thing.
What other trends do you foresee?
Mobility, internal and external. Within India , you will see a large number of people moving from rural to urban, from north to south, from middle India to coastal India. Already, we have some 100-120 million migrants. In the next 10 years it will become only more enhanced.
And remember, when a migrant moves and leaves his family behind, it means that people impacted by migration will be four times the number that migrates . This has huge socio-economic consequences.
It builds a remittance economy; the guy sends the money back, the family is no longer poor. It up-ends traditional equations. It's exacerbated by a few things; one is the demographic difference. Central India has higher population growth rates than south and west. The fertility rate of UP is three times that of Kerala. It's staggering that in the same country you have such huge differences. So when the south and the west start ageing, it will have fewer workers, central India will have more and internal migration will be further accentuated by it.
Finally, technology adoption, which in India is very, very high. Indians have found technology as something that helps them in their aspirations. The mobile phone is a classic example. Technology, aspirations, mobility and demographic dividend. For me, those are the defining themes of the next decade.
What's the role of UID in this?
I think 'Aadhaar' (the brand name of UID) is at the centre of this whole thing. You cannot meet your aspirations without having your identity acknowledged. The fact of the matter is, a large number of Indians don't have that acknowledged existence.
There are just 50 million Indians who have a passport -5 % of the population. People who participate in the stock markets must be 2% of the population, bank account holders must be 20% of the population (220 million). If you want to meet all the people's aspirations, you have to include them in the society. To do that, the basic foundation block is identity.
So, we call it 'Aadhaar' or foundation. Aadhaar addresses the mobility issue too. If you are going to be mobile, you need an identity that travels with you. The ability to create a national identity infrastructure is very important in a very mobile society.
What kind of Aadhaar numbers are you looking at?
600 million in the next four years. By that logic, by 2020 every Indian should have a number.
Yes. In our view, there are three basic numbers everybody should have. The Aadhaar number to identify themselves. A mobile number to communicate and a bank account number. In the world of 2020, everybody will have these three numbers and use them as levers for their aspirations.
You don't take a salary. Why?
My salary gets automatically routed to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund. That's a better way to do it than the Re 1 salary model, I figured. I am doing this as part of giving back to society. When I come home to Bangalore on weekends, I pay my own way. But I do have a government house and car in Delhi.
Many people in the corporate sector would like to follow in your footsteps?
For my project itself, I have got lots of people as volunteers, on sabbatical from outside. I meet a lot of people who have reached a point in their lives when they would like to contribute to public service if they get the right kind of role. People who have been very successful in business, in corporate and other fields. There's definitely an interest but everybody wants to be in the right role.
What kind of innovations can emerge from India?
One of our objectives is to create an innovation ecosystem. On the Aadhaar infrastructure, you can build applications. Some young kid will come out with a nifty application using Aadhaar on the mobile phone where a group of people will suddenly be able to do something they couldn't do earlier. You build these platforms where you take care of what's in the public good. But we should not be writing the innovations. Innovations should be done by innovators.
What do you see as the one overarching idea of the next decade?
The defining meta idea is that Indians in the next 10 years will think more of their future than of the past and believe me that's important. It sounds simple but it changes everything.
Will politics change too?
Obviously. If people are going to be talking of their future-of how it will be better than in the past-politics has to respond to that.
Read more: 'Three numbers will define us: UID, mobile and bank account' - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-toi/all-that-matters/Three-numbers-will-define-us-UID-mobile-and-bank-account/articleshow/7165555.cms#ixzz19CJb3Ayh
