How Aadhaar got its identity

To succeed mammoth, controversial government-promoted UIDAI programme demanded a start-up mind-set

The work and work space could not have been more typical of a start-up. The core team of UIDAI [Unique Identification Authority of India] operated in two different geographies. The tech team and the private consultants initially operated out of Bengaluru from a makeshift office in a fourth-floor apartment in Palm Retreat Towers on Outer Ring Road, before moving into a proper office on Sarjapur Road. In Delhi, the team was squeezed cadre by jowl into a small office in the Planning Commission building called Yojana Bhavan before eventually acquiring its own space in the Jeevan Bharati building at Connaught