Nandan Nilekani and the biometrics battle

UIDAI is, let's face it, not a zippy acronym. But the Unique Identification Authority of India - again, not a catchy title for a project - owes its very high-profile to its leader Nandan Nilekani, the alleged rivalry the scheme has stirred up in the Cabinet, and its mission statement - to provide to every Indian a card bearing a 12-digit ID or aadhaar which will be stored in a central database and linked to the individual's fingerprints and other biometric data. This unique ID will help India's poor avail the welfare schemes and benefits they are entitled to, which are currently over-run by corrupt middlemen.