Aadhaar could play a role in transforming India’s electrical distribution networks: Nandan Nilekani

Speaking through video conferencing at the inauguration of the Aadhaar 2.0 workshop on Tuesday, Nilekani said that direct benefit transfer of electricity subsidies will be crucial in making power distribution companies competitive in India’s run up to achieving net zero emissions by 2070 through power generation from renewable sources.

“We need to make sure that electricity subsidies also go directly into the bank accounts of farmers and other sections of society to whom we want to give power at a reduced price or even free. That will then allow the distribution companies to become more competitive and efficient,” Nilekani said addressing the audience virtually at the Aadhaar 2.0 workshop on Tuesday.

He said that Aadhaar could play a role in completely transforming India’s electrical distribution networks over the next 10-15 years by transferring subsidies directly to individuals’ bank accounts, but was a huge use case for which UIDAI will need to work with all state governments to get it up and running.

Apart from this, Nilekani said that Aadhaar could also be used to transfer subsidies directly to tribals and others living in forests for the protection of the environment, and for creating a portable system for social security and experience transfer for the millions of workers in the gig economy.

“As we create platforms, we’re going to create millions of jobs which are not the old kind of jobs where somebody works in the same company or government for 30-40 years. It’s about people who are portable, mobile and move from one job to another and it’s very important that they take their benefits – whether it’s their provident fund, health insurance, general insurance, motor insurance or their experience database – with them,” Nilekani added.

India’s minister for IT and electronics Ashwini Vaishnaw, who also spoke at the event, said that he’d like to see participants of the workshop come up with ideas on how to take Aadhaar global to help people in countries that face similar issues like India, while also further reducing the cost of devices and other touchpoints for Aadhaar to make it even more affordable.

Vaishnaw also questioned participants of the three day workshop to think whether it was prudent to have an international standard for identification of individuals, as the world and India gets more digitally connected.