A project to provide Indians with a ‘unique’ identity can be variously interpreted. Narrowly construed, it can be seen as an effort to contain illegal immigrants; to strengthen security; to arrest misappropriation, misrepresentation and misallocation. Broadly defined, it can be regarded as the harbinger of radical social and economic change; a first step in defining not simply who we are but who we wish to be.

How will Nilekani interpret his remit? Will he steer the narrow course or plunge into the broader unknown. I would hope the latter not simply because against the backdrop of the social and economic consequences of globalisation, technology and demography we Indians do need to reflect upon our identity but also because if there is one person who can “imagine” the positives of stretching an idea beyond its conventional limits it has to be Nilekani.

A narrow construction of the remit will of course generate value. The plight of Air India; the flow of red ink from the public sector oil marketing companies, the lengthening shadows of power cutbacks — these are just some of the glaring examples of wasteful expenditure, distributive inefficiency and sloppy management. The identity project should help arrest this haemoraging of public resources and avoidable loss. It should plug the leaks that prompted Rajiv Gandhi to comment that of Rs 100 allocated for poverty alleviation barely Rs 15 reached the intended beneficiary. It should help squelch the middlemen and vested interests that today sequester the subsidised petroleum products like kerosene and LPG meant for the poor; that inflate monthly wage bills by somehow adding fictitious names to the payroll; that draw government compensation as teachers or health workers but seldom enter a classroom or dispensary. And on the non-economic front it should make it easier to segregate bonafide citizens from illegal immigrants and strengthen the instruments of internal security.

... contd.