ET Bureau Sep 30, 2011, 02.44am IST
NEW DELHI: Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman, Nandan Nilekani, vigorously defended his body against criticism from various government departments and dismissed concerns about the lack of checks and balances in its functioning.
Nilekani is expected to meet prime minister Manmohan Singh to set the record straight about the Authority's operations. He will also meet Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia early next week.
"I have worked for 30 years in a company that followed very high corporate governance standards, so you cannot expect me to transcend the norms of good governance," said Nilekani, the former chief executive of Infosys Technologies, at a function organised to mark the first anniversary of the launch of the UID programme, Aadhaar.
Nilekani is expected to meet prime minister Manmohan Singh to set the record straight about the Authority's operations. He will also meet Planning Commission chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia early next week.
"I have worked for 30 years in a company that followed very high corporate governance standards, so you cannot expect me to transcend the norms of good governance," said Nilekani, the former chief executive of Infosys Technologies, at a function organised to mark the first anniversary of the launch of the UID programme, Aadhaar.
While this ambitious project, which seeks to give an identity number to every Indian resident, is the backbone of process of direct transfers of benefits under government schemes, it has suffered some serious setbacks recently. Two weeks ago, the finance ministry rejected UIDAI's 15,000-crore funding proposal to capture biometrics of all 1.2 billion Indians through its own registrars, citing duplication in expenditure as the Census office is also gathering biometrics for the National Population Register (NPR).
Later, the Planning Commission - to whom the authority's office is attached - questioned UIDAI's administrative structure and asked that a 'full-time' financial adviser be appointed.
On the issue of the overlap between the NPR and UIDAI, Nilekani said the final decision on which agency should do the biometric scanning would be taken by the Cabinet Committee on UIDAI. "We will await the Cabinet's decision on this issue and whatever it decides, we will be happy with that," he said.
A senior UIDAI official said it was considering submitting a fresh financial proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee for sanctioning 10,000 crore, after the panel rejected its 15,000-crore demand.
"Since it is not clear we will be doing biometric captures beyond 200 million people, we will only be asking for what we need as of now," said the senior official, on conditions of anonymity. Nilekani said UIDAI was a government department and functioned under all the norms and rules of government.
"We are accountable to the CAG, CBI, CVC, RTI, media and the Parliament," he said as he countered the Planning Commission's criticism about the structure and functioning of his authority.
He said he had spoken to Ahluwalia on the phone about the adverse comments made by the Commission in two letters written to the finance ministry. "Ahluwalia is the biggest supporter of the UID project and has in fact, been my mentor in Delhi and helped me navigate (the government)," said Nilekani.
Nilekani, who holds the rank of a cabinet minister made it abundantly clear that he derived his powers from the Prime Minister, while the powers of the UIDAI director general Ram Sewak Sharma were notified by the Planning Commission deputy chairperson and UIDAI's financial adviser was delegated powers by the Expenditure Secretary. "What could be in dispute is whether we should have these powers, but that's a different issue," he said.
Later, the Planning Commission - to whom the authority's office is attached - questioned UIDAI's administrative structure and asked that a 'full-time' financial adviser be appointed.
On the issue of the overlap between the NPR and UIDAI, Nilekani said the final decision on which agency should do the biometric scanning would be taken by the Cabinet Committee on UIDAI. "We will await the Cabinet's decision on this issue and whatever it decides, we will be happy with that," he said.
A senior UIDAI official said it was considering submitting a fresh financial proposal to the Expenditure Finance Committee for sanctioning 10,000 crore, after the panel rejected its 15,000-crore demand.
"Since it is not clear we will be doing biometric captures beyond 200 million people, we will only be asking for what we need as of now," said the senior official, on conditions of anonymity. Nilekani said UIDAI was a government department and functioned under all the norms and rules of government.
"We are accountable to the CAG, CBI, CVC, RTI, media and the Parliament," he said as he countered the Planning Commission's criticism about the structure and functioning of his authority.
He said he had spoken to Ahluwalia on the phone about the adverse comments made by the Commission in two letters written to the finance ministry. "Ahluwalia is the biggest supporter of the UID project and has in fact, been my mentor in Delhi and helped me navigate (the government)," said Nilekani.
Nilekani, who holds the rank of a cabinet minister made it abundantly clear that he derived his powers from the Prime Minister, while the powers of the UIDAI director general Ram Sewak Sharma were notified by the Planning Commission deputy chairperson and UIDAI's financial adviser was delegated powers by the Expenditure Secretary. "What could be in dispute is whether we should have these powers, but that's a different issue," he said.
