It is said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted Nandan Nilekani to head the Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI), because of his uncontroversial nature, business and personal credentials and unquestioned integrity. In that sense, you could say that the two are mirror images of each other. Oh, and of course, the PM wanted a technocrat to head UIDAI because of the magnitude and complex nature of the project.
Nilekani was closely associated with the Karnataka government when S M Krishna, now external affairs minister, was chief minister, and this proved to be a big advantage. In fact, Krishna’s camp in the Congress says it was his suggestion that resulted in Nilekani’s appointment. Besides these two, Nilekani also had the backing of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. And it didn’t hurt that Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh was his quiz partner at IIT Bombay. This appears to be one case of a happy combination of track record and the old boy network at work.
Another reason for choosing Nilekani is that he has the experience to co-ordinate with various private agencies for effective implementation and act as an interface between government and the private sector. For this is not Nilekani’s first stint in the government sector. He was chairman of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), a private-public initiative that was set up to improve city governance and bring Bangalore on par with the world’s best cities.
As head of the BATF, Nilekani co-ordinated with stake holders like the Bangalore City Corporation, Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Metropolitan Corporation, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Electricity Company, Bangalore City Police and the BSNL.
Nilekani tried for a Private Public Partnership (PPP) to create the necessary synergies for improving city
infrastructure. Indeed, there were visible changes in the city when he was at the helm. The more significant of these include the self-assessment scheme for property tax, a fund-based accounting system in the Corporation, and Nirmala and Swachcha Bangalore (cleaner Bangalore).