3 - 24/7/09 12:09 AM,

All along, our complaint has been that  India is ruled by ministers who never went to school. This has affected  lot of sectors which needs at least a basic understanding of science/engineering/technology like petroleum, heavy  industries, telecom, shipping, space, mining... to name a few. The bane of some of the erstwhile gem public sector companies in India can be attributed to this lack of understanding ( + corruption) of these illiterate ministers. Brilliant technocrats at the top of these public sectors had to succumb to these ministers.

Considering all that,  isn't it a great move by an elected Govt., to bring one among the technocrats ( one among us ),  who understands the work involved behind it to lead this project from the concept stage onwards. Instead of making him just another bureaucrat govt gave him full power as a Cabinet minister.

The Income tax PAN number project is a success in India. DIN number project (electronic  director information for limited companies ) is evolving. This Unique Number also will eventually become a success and a necessity.

Rajiv Gandhi brought in Sam Pitroda and that helped Inidia for what it is today in telecom.
Lets hope the same effect from Nandan Nilakeni 10 years from now.

He has already started his job. From today's paper:
"We will be issuing the first set of identification numbers in 12 to 18 months," he told reporters here.

Nilekani said Ram Sevak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, will take over as Secretary and CEO of the organisation.

Thanks
Vinod, IITB