Aadhaar will help combat corruption, say Nilekani

Aadhaar will provide a big platform to fight corruption, said UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani, who is expected to contest forthcoming Lok Sabha elections on Congress ticket.
"I want to really emphasise that Aadhar platform is the biggest anti-corruption platform in the world. And we must recognise the value of it as an anti-corruption platform," Nikelani said during an event here.
Nilekani said Aadhaar has more than 55 crore people into its enrolment and in the next few months it will cross the 60-crore mark.
"In the next few months we will cross 60 crore. 60 crore Aadhaar is the commitment that this government made in August of 2009 and that commitment has been met. But apart from the 55 crore Aadhaar, we have more than 5 crore people who have linked their bank account to the Aadhaar number," he added.

He also said that more than five crore people have linked their bank accounts with Aadhaar number and in the last few months the government has done more than four crore transaction into people's accounts electronically in real time.
"So what you see here is not only world's largest digital ID system but also the world's largest Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system which is now getting scaled up. It is also a very important system for Know Your Customer (KYC).

"Now with Aadhaar number, you can open a bank account in real time without documents," he said.
Nikelani, who had last week announced to contest elections in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls said that he will be willing to stand for Congress ticker.

"I have already said that if the Congress gives me a ticket, I will stand for election...All I have said is that I am ready to stand on a congress ticket," Nilekani said.
The Congress is likely to field Nilekani from Bangalore South, a middle-class centric constituency, known for its antipathy towards Congress since the late 1970s, from where BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar has won five times.
Nilekani said that Congress is a party that is dedicated to long term reforms and his tenure so far in the government has been fully supportive.
"I think Congress is a party dedicated to long term reforms. And certainly, in my five years in government, it has given me total support to implement such a sophisticated project," he added.