Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani has joined the Congress party and will contest Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore South.
The ambitious project --which has issued unique identification numbers to more than 380 million people, which is large than the population of several large countries in just a few years -- would still take a few more years before every Indian resident is issued with this unique number and the card having the biometric information of the individual, Nilekani told a Washington audience.
He also said automation, machine-learning, artificial intelligence and bots are happening, both in the software and business process outsourcing sector
It is almost official: Unique Identification Authority of India chairman and former Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from South Bangalore, the IT hub, against Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Ananth Kumar.
The government on Tuesday gave in-principle approval for adoption of standardised approach for collection of demographic and biometric attributes, including iris scan, of residents by various bodies for the UID project.
Fighting Nandan Nilekani to extend his record winning streak in Lok Sabha polls here, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ananth Kumar says the former Infosys chief has committed "hara-kiri" by fighting on a Congress ticket as the party on Sunday symbolises "corruption and scams".
Nilekani said that in India which has the total population of over one billion, only 50 million people had passports which was mere five per cent of total population, around 30 million people paid taxes and over 150 million people had driver licence.
'We are the only country in the world where everybody gets a digital vaccination certificate immediately... Then as we open up, as they did yesterday, which I think is a welcome move, you will have lots and lots of points where people will come in'
The department of post has offered to include one-and-a-half-lakh post offices for this purpose initially.
Speaking at a function to release 'Annual Status of Education Report' of NGO Pratham, Nilekani said that UIDAI wants to use technology for better delivery in education.
With the first phase of Unique Identification Authority of India aiming to enrol 600 million residents of the country into its database in next four years and its possible use in improving the Public Distribution System, UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani on Friday said the journey will be 'long' and 'tough'.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has requested the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to include the state for the pilot project 'Aadhar' as it was ready with the resident data.
The Unique Identifiaction Authority of India is expediting creation of platforms for implementing the model, likely to include coverage of the Public Distribution System and other areas of subsidy, and also government's social sector schemes.
The requirement of one million units would entail a huge market for firms such as HCL Infosystems, Geodesic, VeriFone, Visiontek and others manufacturing micro-ATMs.
UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, in an interview to CNN-IBN, says that Aadhaar enabled service delivery is a far more effective way to fight corruption.
In a draft document of the authority, the UIDAI has identified three transaction types. The basic ID confirmation will be free, where potential user agencies could be, for instance, the airlines which do passenger check-ins.
Machines obey bumbling humanity in ageless India.
Toll collection is a key instrument for the government to attract private investment.
The Unique Identification Number will bring in mobility, choice, transparency and accountability at the doorsteps of the common man, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani has said.
The department of telecom will meet UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani on Sept 24 to discuss how the database of nearly 500 million telephone subscribers can be used for issuing the unique identification number.
As the demand and costs for computing power soar, a core team at Infosys is undertaking a series of green IT initiatives that could help in raising the bar for green IT practices in the country.
Noting that Aadhaar was an 'irreversible process', Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani said on Friday they have targeted to enroll 60 crore (600 million) people by 2014.
One out of every two Indians would have Aadhaar number by the middle of 2014, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani has said as he underlined the unique attributes of the identification system that will lead to public sector reform and governance transformation.
The UIDAI chairman said people have started relaising the benefits of aadhaar numbers and how it could help them in multiple ways -- from opening a bank account to avail the benefits of various social welfare schemes.
Aadhaar, says former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, has followed 'all the design principles laid by the Supreme Court.'
'Please don't forget there's still one final piece to fall in place, which is the Supreme Court judgment. Once that happens, it will be ready for being passed.'
The book, 'India Can', has received praises from top business leaders including Deepak Parekh and Nandan Nilekani.
'It has also saved the government about $ 9 billion in fraud and wastage because by having that unique number you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee list,' Nilekani said at an event on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Aadhaar is something that had never been done by any government before, not even in a rich country
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Banking as we know it will stand on its head in the next 10 years.
It is widely believed that Nandan Nilekani's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saved the ambitious Aadhaar project from oblivion or a takeover by the home ministry.
Aadhar is set to be a preferred tool for various people- focussed initiatives of the government in the new year.
The government must be the initial driver.
Diversified business house Trident Group would become the first corporate to use Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB) for disbursal of salaries to its employees.
The apex court had permitted only voluntary use of Aadhaar for welfare programmes including MGNREGA, all pension schemes, provident fund and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna.
Aadhaar now has legal backing but it still faces challenges of privacy and data sharing
He also made an appeal not to 'overblow' the issue of data breach.
Microsoft, the world's largest software company, is keen to partner India in a project to issue unique identification to each citizen, its chairman Bill Gates said on Friday.
Says one of the problems in addressing the issue of black money is that India's tax system is perceived as being arbitrary
Nandan Nilekani said plans are on track to issue Aadhaar numbers to 600 million (60 crore) people in three to three-and-half years.
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