10 OCT, 2011, 03.22AM IST, ET BUREAU
To prevent duplication with the National Population Register, Nilekani proposes to have a system of convergence where one gets the number with any registrar and UIDAI will ensure non-duplication.
As the government seeks a radical transformation in how it transmits Rs 3,00,000 crore of annual welfare spends, a lot rests on the shoulders of former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.
As the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), he has to assign unique identity numbers to Indian residents before a new subsidy regime of direct cash transfers can take off. But the UIDAI ran into rough weather recently when the finance ministry denied it Rs 15,000 crore.
The ministry cited duplication of efforts as the census office is also capturing biometrics of citizens for its National Population Register. Planning Commission, which oversees UIDAI's expenditure, also said the authority's structure goes against government procedures.
In a freewheeling chat with Team ET, Nilekani sought to set the record straight about the controversies swirling around the UIDAI. He asserted that the UIDAI is accountable to Parliament, follows all government procedures and is flexible about which agency collects the biometrics of 1.2 billion Indians. Excerpts:
As the government seeks a radical transformation in how it transmits Rs 3,00,000 crore of annual welfare spends, a lot rests on the shoulders of former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani.
As the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), he has to assign unique identity numbers to Indian residents before a new subsidy regime of direct cash transfers can take off. But the UIDAI ran into rough weather recently when the finance ministry denied it Rs 15,000 crore.
The ministry cited duplication of efforts as the census office is also capturing biometrics of citizens for its National Population Register. Planning Commission, which oversees UIDAI's expenditure, also said the authority's structure goes against government procedures.
In a freewheeling chat with Team ET, Nilekani sought to set the record straight about the controversies swirling around the UIDAI. He asserted that the UIDAI is accountable to Parliament, follows all government procedures and is flexible about which agency collects the biometrics of 1.2 billion Indians. Excerpts:
You have permission to enrol up to 200 million people as of now. Does it mean that the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, which is building the National Population Register, will enrol the remaining one billion?
No. What we really do is the technology-led backend activity. The enrolment at the front-end is done through our partners. We have around 50 active registrars like state governments, banks, LIC, oil companies and so on. We reimburse these registrars at the rate of Rs 50 per head.
So, if a state government enrols one crore people, we will pay them Rs 50 crore and they in turn will competitively give it to some enrolling agencies. When we say we can enrol up to 200 million, (it means that) the multiple registrars of UIDAI can enrol up to 200 million people for which reimbursement will be given.
The matter (of whether NPR or UIDAI should do the biometrics) is in front of the cabinet. For the backend, there is no issue whether the data comes to us from NPR or from our other registrars. What is in question is whether beyond 200 million we can reimburse registrars at Rs 50?
If the cabinet decides that NPR will do enrolments, will it not be a setback to the UIDAI project?
Our desire is that 1.2 billion Indians get a number as soon as possible, so that the applications can roll out. That is all I care about.
How did the question of overlap with the NPR arise?
The issue has been there from the beginning. The cabinet last May gave us the permission to enrol up to 100 million people, pending the data from NPR. A committee was set up to converge the two (NPR and UIDAI). That committee is giving its report now. I do not want to discuss what it is saying, but fundamentally the CC-UIDAI will look at it for the future.
No. What we really do is the technology-led backend activity. The enrolment at the front-end is done through our partners. We have around 50 active registrars like state governments, banks, LIC, oil companies and so on. We reimburse these registrars at the rate of Rs 50 per head.
So, if a state government enrols one crore people, we will pay them Rs 50 crore and they in turn will competitively give it to some enrolling agencies. When we say we can enrol up to 200 million, (it means that) the multiple registrars of UIDAI can enrol up to 200 million people for which reimbursement will be given.
The matter (of whether NPR or UIDAI should do the biometrics) is in front of the cabinet. For the backend, there is no issue whether the data comes to us from NPR or from our other registrars. What is in question is whether beyond 200 million we can reimburse registrars at Rs 50?
If the cabinet decides that NPR will do enrolments, will it not be a setback to the UIDAI project?
Our desire is that 1.2 billion Indians get a number as soon as possible, so that the applications can roll out. That is all I care about.
How did the question of overlap with the NPR arise?
The issue has been there from the beginning. The cabinet last May gave us the permission to enrol up to 100 million people, pending the data from NPR. A committee was set up to converge the two (NPR and UIDAI). That committee is giving its report now. I do not want to discuss what it is saying, but fundamentally the CC-UIDAI will look at it for the future.
