Nandan Nilekani - beyond IT

Nandan Nilekani made headlines when he accepted the offer to head the NAUID. His transition too from the corporate world to government service was pretty seamless. One has to give due credit and realize that maybe he is made of a different material and takes pride in giving back to the society.

For his leadership and planning of the whole project Nilekani was recently felicitated by Yale University with ‘Legend in Leadership Award’. This award, since its inception 20 years ago, has been given to CEOs who serve as living legends and inspire CEOs across nations and industries.

India has traditionally excelled in identifying its citizens in a very mundane way. Let’s face it, Mumbai police were once noted for their exemplary crime solving statistics next only to the legendary Scotland Yard. There have been many approaches by the Govt. of India to come up with a solution to identify each one of its billion plus population. Administering a country which is second most populous in the world is no easy task. There are a multitude of needs and an urgent need for a common identification scheme.

Many countries have implemented their own methods of identification for their citizens, most widely known being the Social Security Number in USA, National Insurance Number in UK, Personal Identity Number in Sweden and Denmark, National Identification Card in Pakistan, Resident Identity Card in China, etc. etc. These countries in many ways have a lot of advantages in managing their subjects. These are used by authorities for domestic peace and national security, by health care providers, by the financial and banking industry and by various insurance industries.

Trouble makers: Inside and out

One of the primary reasons for such identification is for National Security. There are many issues domestic and international which plague India on multiple fronts. Domestically it varies from the J&K unrest, Western Border States international skirmishes with the neighbor, Southern tigers issue till recently before they were wiped out, the vertical corridor of Maoists and North eastern unrest. Add to this the spice of the race in the communal sensitive areas such as Lucknow, Mumbai, Ayodhya, Godhra, Deccan, Coimbatore, J&K, etc and you have the perfect recipe to breed vested interests.

There are many states in India which have regional political leaders who call for regional prominence over national interest, if only it was puritan thoughts of regional development, but alas that is never the case. Many heroes have risen and turned blind eye once greed sets in.

Crimes and abuse of the common man

In India for one has to access a passport there needs to be a Ration Card (Govt. provided document which lists a family and its members with their residence details). Most of the other transactions such as banking, licenses, etc need this document including voting. But since there is no common data base there is a very high possibility of abuse of this document. It is illegal to hold more than one passport or more than one Ration Card in a state, but due to non-viable tracking means, this is a very real situation.

Empowering the oppressed

India’s population even with the decade old liberalization is still a rural and agrarian one. India has one of the highest population densities in the World with about 344 per km. Also due to a large percentage of population still reeling under illiteracy and poverty, there is a very high chance of many potential victims to this menace.

In the recent past, things are changing for the good. There have been some good infrastructure development projects undertaken by the Indian Govt. such as connecting highways and roads across the length and breadth of the country and now the Nation Identification project. Liberalization has resulted in more spending power, more facilities trickling down the system and slowly reaching the common man. But how does the Govt. track this? The National Identification drive will empower them in more ways than one.

The MNIC is a smart card with 16KB of memory designed to be in line with the specifications laid out in ISO/IEC 7816 and SCOSTA. Earlier smart card applications of the Government of India have adapted the ISO/IEC 7816 specifications under the SCOSTA (Smart Card Operating System for Transport Applications) program of the government of India. The cards are designed to support a minimum of 300,000 EEPROM write cycles and will retain data for at least 10 years.

Objectives of MNIC

1. Remove the need for multiple form of document proof
2. Facilitate easy identification of the citizens
3. Facilitate easy leverage and usage of both government and private services
4. Facilitate accountability in implementing the government welfare programs so they reach the intended beneficiaries
5. Serve as a platform for future e-governance services
6. Facilitate in preparing National Population Register
7. Facilitate in preparing National Register of Indian Citizens
8. Facilitate in preparing National Register of Residency for non-citizens
9. Facilitate in preparing National Identity Number for each and every citizen
10. Create and provide a Multi-purpose National Identity Card to each and every citizen
11. Create and provide a Multi-purpose Residency Card for non-citizens

What does the future hold?

The best part of MNIC is that it involves bio metrics. Not even in countries as advanced as the US, has their identification have bio metrics incorporated in it. The plan and vision is to integrate the fingerprints of the person on the card. The process is already underway where the census board is planning on collecting 10 fingerprints and/or iris scan for the upcoming 2011 census. We wish if they can use both the finger print and iris scan for the MNIC. This information is assumed to be tamper proof and will be subject to modification to keep it current at all times.

The card will have the minimum written information and most of it will not be stored on the card, except the fingerprint and unique ID (which will be 16 digits). Initially the plan is to integrate just about 50 million people most of them being volunteers to begin with. First phase is planned to be rolled out in 12 – 18 months.

The whole plan is to implement in phases where the initial phase will cover 9 states and 4 union territories. This includes people living in the coastal villages of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal and the Union Territories of Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Will this result in convenience for common man and help for administration remains to be seen. The promise is there but will it stand the test of time and the fickle nature of Indian politics or will it be abused too, only time will tell