Students can become interns in UID project…….Sumali Moitra
KOLKATA: After roping in techies as volunteers, and on sabbatical from the private sector, the government’s unique identity project led by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has now decided to cast its net wider to even include students in its functioning.
“We want to bring in those studying in universities and researchers to work for us as interns for a specified period so that they can also contribute to the success of the venture,” Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) director general & mission director R S Sharma told TOI on Monday.
“They can work on designated projects as summer interns, for example. We will come out with the internship modalities shortly, which will contain details of the kind of people we are looking for,” he added.
Sharma said there had been a “wonderful” response from IT companies to Nilekani’s request to send some of their best minds to work for the UIDAI on a temporary basis. “We are still processing many of the applications but some have already joined us (on a sabbatical)…we will write to Nasscom thanking them for
their help in this regard,” he added.
their help in this regard,” he added.
In January, Nilekani had requested the software industry body to urge their members to send engineers, having expertise in the development of large-scale software systems, on a sabbatical to the Authority so that their abilities could help fast-track the roll-out of the UID project.
Sharma said the UIDAI – which has already signed MoUs with states like Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh – hoped to do so with Maharashtra shortly. “Draft MoUs have been sent to all states and Union Territories. Following some points raised by the states, we have also fine-tuned the MoUs,” he added.
Constituted as an attached office under the Planning Commission, UIDAI’s mandate is to develop and implement the necessary legal, technical and institutional infrastructure to issue an unique identity number to Indian residents, as well as authenticate the identity of a person who is in the UID database. As chairman of the UIDAI, Nilekani enjoys the rank of a Cabinet minister.