Page 37 - DMGT302_FUNDAMENTALS_OF_PROJECT_MANAGEMENT

Fundamentals of Project Management

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Gandhi (Gandhi) in Tembhali village in Maharashtra. The launch signified UIDAI’s core
initiative of giving the poor and marginalized in India an easily verifiable and mobile
identity. Having invited Nilekani, Singh had given him full autonomy during the
implementation of the Aadhaar project. Nilekani was also given a free hand by Singh to
recruit good talent and form his core team. Nilekani initiated the Aadhaar project by
launching a pilot project in Karnataka, in October 2010. The success of the pilot project
prompted the UIDAI to roll out the Aadhaar project in other states of India.

Since the initiation of the Aadhaar, Nilekani received opposition from several quarters –
mainly from cabinet colleagues, bureaucrats, policy experts, activists, and a few State
Governments. The Finance Ministry of India opposed that the Aadhaar would result in
duplication of expenditure since the National Population Register (NPR) led by the Home
Ministry was also responsible for making a comprehensive identity database. The Home
Ministry questioned the security of biometrics and expressed concerns over how the
confidential data would be protected. The Planning Commission said that the UIDAI
structure was against government procedures. On the positive side, some policy makers
felt that Singh’s decision to recruit Nilekani proved to be appropriate since Nilekani had
retained immense goodwill amongst the stakeholders involved. Moreover, the autonomy
given to Nilekani by Singh led him to prove the viability of the project.
The divided views over the Aadhaar project raised doubts whether the project would be
trashed and Nilekani would step down from the post of the Chairman of the UIDAI. The
debate over duplication of data and security concerns raised by the Home Ministry came
to an end after Singh intervened. In January 2012, Singh in a meeting with Planning
Commission Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Ahluwalia), Home Minister, P
Chidambaram, and Nilekani concluded that the Aadhaar would be given an extended
mandate of collecting biometric data of another 400 million residents in India. While the
UIDAI was instructed to enroll 600 million residents across 16 states and Union Territories,
the remaining 600 million residents would be recorded by the Registrar General as part of
the NPR. The NPR and the UIDAI would then share the biometric data and de-duplicate
the data to form a comprehensive biometric database. Nilekani’s performance in
successfully steering this challenging project was being keenly watched as it was one of
the rare instances where the Government had entrusted a project of this magnitude to a
corporate leader. Having achieved the initial breakthrough and scored early successes it
was to be seen how he would overcome the new challenges and scale up the project.
Issues
1. Analyze the efforts by UPA and Singh in launching the Aadhaar project.

2. Understand the initiatives undertaken by Nilekani in launching the Aadhaar project
and making it a success.
3. Understand the issues and challenges faced by Nilekani during the implementation
of the Aadhaar project.
4. Understand the dilemma faced by the GI in taking the Aadhaar project forward.

Source: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Project%20Management/PROM013.htm
2.9 Summary

A project should earn sufficient return on the investment.
Rationing refers to the conscious decision to exclude certain people from a service or
treatment that they need.

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