Nilekani bids tearful adieu: Infosys' loss is India's gain

Bangalore - IT bellwether Infosys Technologies gave a tearful send-off to its co-chairman Nandan M. Nilekani, who marked an end to a 28-year-long stint in the company by accepting the government's offer to head its ambitious unique identification number project of issuing national identity cards to one billion people.

Nilekani, one of the seven founders of Nasdaq-listed Infosys, which started in 1981 with a loan of $250, has seen the technology outsourcer's staff strength grow from 20 in 1981 to 103,905 in the last quarter.

"I am generally very articulate but this is not the day or place where I can be articulate. I've been wrapped up in Infosys for 28 years. My only identity is Infosys. I will be going to lead a program to give identity to every Indian. But today I am losing my identity," Nilekani said in an address to 20,000-odd Infosys employees in the company campus in Bangalore's Electronic City on Thursday.

"So far I have been identified because of Infosys. My identity is because of Infosys. From tomorrow I don't have an identity even though I am suppose to give identity to a billion people because I cannot say I am Infosian," he said.

Recalling the early days of Infosys, Nilekani expressed his gratitude to other Infosys co-founders, especially Infosys chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy who gave him "his first job."

"He gave me the first job. Then, when he started Infosys, he invited me to join as a co-founder," Nilekani said.

Nilekani said it was difficult for him to say goodbye to Infosys, which made him what he is today, but public service had always been his "lifelong calling" and he was leaving Infosys for a "greater cause."

"It has been a difficult and gut wrenching decision to make as I have been a part of the Infosys family for almost 30 years and it's the only life I have known. I firmly believe my learning and experiences at Infosys will help me pursue and contribute to a larger cause and I am thankful to each of you for making this journey so special," he said.

"This was an offer I could not have refused. The cause here is so large that it is worth leaving my comfort zone. The Prime Minister has mandated me to roll out UIDs benchmarked to the best in the world," Nilekani said.

His ambition, he said, was "not to be on the board of any company. Also, because my father was a huge public service guy. My uncle was also in this domain. And here I am, heading to it," he said.

However, the former chief executive of Infosys said he was well aware of the challenges associated with new role. "I am leaving an organized world. Here, standing at the top of an abyss, even if I were to fall, I may find water. But, in my new role, I'm supposed to work with 600 government departments knowing fully well that no two government departments get along with one other," Nilekani, who received from other co-founders, a white-and-blue jersey with Infosys written in the front and number 2 in the back, said.

According to Infosys co-founder and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy, everyone in Infosys would be sad to see Nilekani go. But they are proud that an Infosian has been tapped by the government to head its ambitious project of issuing national identity cards to one billion people. "Ideally, we would all have liked him to continue till he was 60. That is the year in which he had to retire. But realizing that he is very passionate about getting into a new orbit, realizing that his heart was in making a difference to a larger number of people in the country, we all felt that we should encourage him," Murthy said.

According to Murthy, Nilekani is the right man to head the government's ambitious project as he is a "big picture man."

"He is a wonderful networker. He understands technology and technology policy. He is a middle-of-the-road person, he is a consensus builder, and he has a very pleasant personality. So I would think that it is an excellent choice," Murthy said.

However, Murthy feels sorry for Nilekani as the "poor fellow is going from an enlightened democracy, from a synthetic place like Infosys where everything is ordered and ordained to be in a particular way into a place where there is lot of chaos, where there is a lot of conflicting interest, where there is a lot of vested interest, where consensus building is not easy."

Murthy's colleagues Kris Gopalakrishnan and T.V. Mohandas Pai, however, have no doubts that Nilekani will excel in his new role.

According to Gopalakrishnan, who took over from him as CEO of Infosys, Nilekani is a wizard at getting things done. "You'll never find anything in his inbox. If you give him any work, he will delegate it so well that it will go off to the outbox. How he delegates, no one knows," Gopalakrishnan said.

Agrees Pai, board member and head (HRD and Education & Research), Infosys. Pai, who swears by Nilekani's sharp wit and elephantine memory, said he was left amazed several times by his great networking abilities. Also, "If Narayana Murthy is to be convinced, only Nandan can do it. How he does it, no one knows," he said.

Indeed, from the time of carrying his first computer on his lap as a precious possession when traveling from Mumbai and Bangalore to being the chief of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Nilekani, 54, has come a long way.

Meanwhile, a senior government official, on condition of anonymity said the government would take all steps to ensure that Nilekani finds his new responsibility a pleasant experience.

"We have zeroed in on Vigyan Bhawan annexe and Jeevan Bharati building in Connaught Place. The Vigyan Bhawan annexe is especially close to other government offices. We are planning to set up Nilekani's new office in Vigyan Bhavan. His staff will be accommodated in Jeevan Bharati building where two floors with around 20,000 sq feet space has been identified," the official said.

The Vigyan Bhawan space was used by Liberhan Commission for 17 years and was vacated recently after the panel submitted its report into the Babri masjid demolition to the government.

"We will make Nilekani's office as hi-tech and technologically equipped as desired by him. The cost involved is not going to be a problem," the official said.

The Urban Development Ministry has also identified a sprawling Type VIII bungalow in Lutyens Zone for Nilekani, who has been given Cabinet rank, the official said, adding that to the government's prime concern is to make Nilekani as comfortable as possible, considering the challenging task assigned to him.

Indeed, the ambitious project of issuing an identity card for every Indian will be a Herculean task. Till date, all the ration cards, PAN cards, voter cards and job cards issued so far by government agencies have been full of leakages and gaps and many times media have reported that these cards were issued to people, who do not exist and there are many who have never received them.

Implementing a smart card will also require legal clearance from many government departments. This will make one integrated database. The room for error should be minimum to carry out operation of this magnitude. Even a five percent error will mean almost 50 million records being matched incorrectly.

"The IDs will form the base of a multi-applications smart card system that can be used to empower the poor and ensure that they get the full benefits of all programs such as the rural employment guarantee program, public distribution system, education, skill development, health services, social security, fertilizer subsidy, solar lanterns, solar cookers, etc," the government official said.

"The card with a 16-digit identification will gradually replace other ID cards now in use, such as the driving licence, voter ID card, and the permanent account number card. It will be a smart card with 16kb memory. The card will also have cyber security features to make it tamper-proof and cloning-proof," the official said.

"The project envisages preparation of a computerized national register of Indian citizens which will be updated by linking it to birth and death registration offices. The updating will also include changes in address, marital status, name and other details," he said.

"The number will remain the permanent identification from birth to death of an individual. In the beginning, the number will be assigned to each person on the current electoral rolls. Subsequently, others, including those below 18 years of age and thus not on the voter list, will be added," he added.

According to the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the scheme would be the largest such unique identification system in the world. ''It is high priority for the government and can eliminate the need of multiple cards. The unique ID card will help citizens avail basic government services. We will start testing these on a pilot basis in a year,'' Ahluwalia said.

Nilekani is likely to formally join his new assignment on Monday with his select team, which is yet to be announced.

The Ministry of Planning has allocated Rs.120 crore for UIDAI, which is expected to roll out the first card in the next 12-18 months.

Shares in Infosys Technologies, valued at more than $20 billion, closed 2.97 percent higher at Rs.1726.50 at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday.

About Nandan M. Nilekani

Nandan Manohar Nilekani's journey with Infosys began in 1978, even before Infosys was formed, when he joined Patni Computers after graduating from IIT Bombay and began working under N.R. Narayana Murthy. Three years later, in 1981, Infosys was born under the leadership of Murthy and the other co-founders - S. Gopalakrishnan, K. Dinesh, N.S. Raghavan, N.M. Nilekani and S.D. Shibulal - who had borrowed $250 from their spouses. The team worked hard to build Infosys through the 1980s and the 1990s.

Prior to being made CEO and managing director of Infosys from March 2002 to June 2007, Nilekani previously held the posts of the president and COO and under his leadership, Infosys' global delivery model became mainstream and the company's revenues grew from Rs.3604 crore to Rs.13,893 crore and the headcount scaled up from 10,700 people to over 72,000.

In 2004, Nilekani was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest Indian civilian decoration and in January 2006, Nilekani became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board.

Known as the man who helped Thomas Friedman discover a phrase to describe his globalization treatise of a flat world, Nilekani was in 2006 listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Nilekani, who played a key role in drawing a new profile of the "India Everywhere" campaign organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at the World Economic Summit in Davos in 2006, has reportedly been handpicked by the prime minister to head the new entity (UIDAI) in recognition of his contribution to the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and other related areas of public policy.

Nilekani, who has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, is a co-founder of India's National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM). He is also the chairperson of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF).