Nandan Nilekani, who was named as the chairman of the newly-created Unique Identification Authority of India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spoke to S. Raghotham from Delhi. Excerpts:

Nandan, congratulations. What did the PM say to you?

The Prime Minister has been extremely supportive. He understands the strategic importance of the national ID project. It requires tremendous political will. I have his full backing to make it work, and that’s why I accepted the position.

In a nutshell, what is the project?

The idea is to give a single, unique identity number, which could be on a card, to every Indian so that citizens don’t have to carry multiple identity documents as at present. When you go to a private or government service provider, they should be able to identify all relevant details about you from that one number.

Why is it being described as transformatory?

It brings up immense possibilities. The poor in this country are hampered and treated badly when they go to service providers because they do not usually have identity documents. With the ID number, they will be able to open bank accounts; the government can transfer subsidies directly to their bank accounts. The ID will also help the cause of national security.
Was this the role you were waiting for? Did you discuss other positions with the government?

Well, there were discussions on whether I would like to be a member of the Planning Commission, but I accepted this because it is a more operational role. I am a project management kind of guy.

You have, of course, resig-ned from Infosys. But have you had time to think abo-ut conflict of interest issu-es that might still arise?

The only time issues of conflict of interest will arise is during procurement. I will ensure that the UIDAI’s procurement is open and transparent. If need be, I will recluse myself from the decision-making process on procurements.