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The Making Of Aadhaar: World’s Largest Identity Platform
Aadhaar is the world’s largest identity project that enrolled a billion residents.
The Making of Aadhaar offers insights into the creation of this one-of-a-kind system, at a fraction of the cost of the alternative, less sophisticated identity systems that had been previously tried in India and elsewhere. That, by itself, makes for an interesting case study because outcomes of major projects, especially in government, tend to range from the ‘underwhelming’ to the ‘spectacular failures’. Aadhaar is the exception that proves the rule.
Alongside Nandan Nilekani, the author led a brilliant team in developing the technology that undergirds Aadhaar, enrolled the resident population of India, created an online authentication mechanism for the digital world, and operationalized the ecosystem to take advantage of the new identity.
This book is a first-hand account from the trenches which provides a lucid and in-depth understanding of the artefact called Aadhaar and how it continues to change and redefine India.
Ram Sewak Sharma is the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and was the first Director General of the UIDAI. He is an engaging speaker, forthright in expressing his opinions that frequently appear in newspaper columns. While experts, activists, policy analysts, opinion makers, trolls and lay persons may have all found themselves disagreeing with Dr Sharma’s opinions at different times, none would deny his achievement in large scale IT projects, of which Aadhaar is a shining example.
The Making of Aadhaar offers insights into the creation of this one-of-a-kind system, at a fraction of the cost of the alternative, less sophisticated identity systems that had been previously tried in India and elsewhere. That, by itself, makes for an interesting case study because outcomes of major projects, especially in government, tend to range from the ‘underwhelming’ to the ‘spectacular failures’. Aadhaar is the exception that proves the rule.
Alongside Nandan Nilekani, the author led a brilliant team in developing the technology that undergirds Aadhaar, enrolled the resident population of India, created an online authentication mechanism for the digital world, and operationalized the ecosystem to take advantage of the new identity.
This book is a first-hand account from the trenches which provides a lucid and in-depth understanding of the artefact called Aadhaar and how it continues to change and redefine India.
Ram Sewak Sharma is the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and was the first Director General of the UIDAI. He is an engaging speaker, forthright in expressing his opinions that frequently appear in newspaper columns. While experts, activists, policy analysts, opinion makers, trolls and lay persons may have all found themselves disagreeing with Dr Sharma’s opinions at different times, none would deny his achievement in large scale IT projects, of which Aadhaar is a shining example.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 8, 2020
“Make it simple, but significant”
- Don Draper in Mad Men
No Governance and tech success story is as significant for India as story of Aadhaar in second decade of 21st century. A twelve digit random number revolutionized the way we establishes our identity for utilizing public and private services. Being a first Director General of UIDAI, Ram Sewak Sharma narrated authentic account of journey of Aadhaar. Broadly divided in three parts, in first part of The Making of Aadhaar: World's largest Identity Platform he narrates inception and technological challenges, in second part legal and other resistant from privacy advocates and reservations of various government organs for project is discussed. In third part story of Application of Aadhar in various government and private programs is narrated. Here immense possibility of Application of Aadhar and this technology infrastructure UIDAI has built is explored.
Spanning less than 200 pages, this is authentic, informative and delightful read on Aadhar. Book is also with some enjoyable anecdotal stories on bureaucracy and politics generally we found in books written by bureaucrats. There are two complaints I have with this book. One, role of Nandan Nilekani, first Chairman of UIDAI, in making this project successful could have been narrated with more details. And second, in book Aadhaar A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution, Shankkar Aiyar has told a story how name Aadhar derived from what elderly nomad of Mogiya tribe of Rajasthan incidentally uttered: ‘Pehchaan hi toh jeevan ka aadhar hai’. I just expected confirmation of this anecdotal story but in his book Ram Sewak Sharma remains silent on how word Aadhar adopted for unique ID. After reading two books on Aadhaar, still waiting for detailed, comprehensive and gripping account of Aadhar story, probably from Nandan Nilekani himself.
- Don Draper in Mad Men
No Governance and tech success story is as significant for India as story of Aadhaar in second decade of 21st century. A twelve digit random number revolutionized the way we establishes our identity for utilizing public and private services. Being a first Director General of UIDAI, Ram Sewak Sharma narrated authentic account of journey of Aadhaar. Broadly divided in three parts, in first part of The Making of Aadhaar: World's largest Identity Platform he narrates inception and technological challenges, in second part legal and other resistant from privacy advocates and reservations of various government organs for project is discussed. In third part story of Application of Aadhar in various government and private programs is narrated. Here immense possibility of Application of Aadhar and this technology infrastructure UIDAI has built is explored.
Spanning less than 200 pages, this is authentic, informative and delightful read on Aadhar. Book is also with some enjoyable anecdotal stories on bureaucracy and politics generally we found in books written by bureaucrats. There are two complaints I have with this book. One, role of Nandan Nilekani, first Chairman of UIDAI, in making this project successful could have been narrated with more details. And second, in book Aadhaar A Biometric History of India's 12-Digit Revolution, Shankkar Aiyar has told a story how name Aadhar derived from what elderly nomad of Mogiya tribe of Rajasthan incidentally uttered: ‘Pehchaan hi toh jeevan ka aadhar hai’. I just expected confirmation of this anecdotal story but in his book Ram Sewak Sharma remains silent on how word Aadhar adopted for unique ID. After reading two books on Aadhaar, still waiting for detailed, comprehensive and gripping account of Aadhar story, probably from Nandan Nilekani himself.
January 2, 2024
I got quite excited when I discovered a book written on the making of Aadhar by a former Director General of the UIDAI. I expected the book to give a detailed account into how the idea of UIDAI was conceived, what on-ground challenges were faced in enrolling 1.25 billion users, what India specific nuances made aadhar an even more challenging project etc.
While the author does touch upon each of these briefly, I felt that the major agenda of writing this book was to answer all the controversies that were ever linked to Aadhar. The author, chapter by chapter, takes all the criticism that aadhar got in its lifetime and defends aadhar and UIDAIs strategy. Another criticism I have for this book is that the author unnecessarily uses too much technical jargon in the book (fine for me since I work in tech, but the art of simplifying tech for a 5 year old is what makes reading more pleasurable and inclusive).
I would have appreciated a slightlty better storytelling and an honest tale of aadhar, not onlty applauding its greatness but also talking about its shortcomings, challenges etc.
While the author does touch upon each of these briefly, I felt that the major agenda of writing this book was to answer all the controversies that were ever linked to Aadhar. The author, chapter by chapter, takes all the criticism that aadhar got in its lifetime and defends aadhar and UIDAIs strategy. Another criticism I have for this book is that the author unnecessarily uses too much technical jargon in the book (fine for me since I work in tech, but the art of simplifying tech for a 5 year old is what makes reading more pleasurable and inclusive).
I would have appreciated a slightlty better storytelling and an honest tale of aadhar, not onlty applauding its greatness but also talking about its shortcomings, challenges etc.
October 26, 2020
A wonderful personal account
A lot has been written about Aadhaar. This book is an engaging personal account of one of the architects of Aadhaar. You learn about the inside stories, about challenges and moments of triumph. The passion of Dr Sharma clearly shows. He has also represented views of the critics of the Aadhaar and has addressed them in his account. I enjoyed reading the book and also learnt a lot.
A lot has been written about Aadhaar. This book is an engaging personal account of one of the architects of Aadhaar. You learn about the inside stories, about challenges and moments of triumph. The passion of Dr Sharma clearly shows. He has also represented views of the critics of the Aadhaar and has addressed them in his account. I enjoyed reading the book and also learnt a lot.
November 27, 2020
We all know of Aadhaar. Love it or hate it; it is here to stay with us. For life. I read a fascinating, first-person, account by Dr R S Sharma on the making of Aadhaar. While Nandan Nilekani was the Chairman of UIDAI, Sharma was his wingman as the DG.
The story of Aadhaar is one of public private partnership at the highest levels of government. The way UIDAI was staffed with talent from different arms of the government and from the private sector is a template worth emulating. We often assume things about how easy it must be for those in positions of power and authority to get things done. The book gives us an insiders view into what a startup venture within the government looks like - creative ways to get things done while not breaking well laid out administrative processes.
I particularly liked the first section of the book where Sharma takes us through his education and career under the title “Rite of Passage” which tells us about his personal interest and expertise in coding, early experiments in technology adoption as an IAS officer, and how these things helped him as the DG of UIDAI. RS Sharma belongs to that rare tribe of bureaucrats who are also technocrats in it’s true sense.
The story of Aadhaar is one of public private partnership at the highest levels of government. The way UIDAI was staffed with talent from different arms of the government and from the private sector is a template worth emulating. We often assume things about how easy it must be for those in positions of power and authority to get things done. The book gives us an insiders view into what a startup venture within the government looks like - creative ways to get things done while not breaking well laid out administrative processes.
I particularly liked the first section of the book where Sharma takes us through his education and career under the title “Rite of Passage” which tells us about his personal interest and expertise in coding, early experiments in technology adoption as an IAS officer, and how these things helped him as the DG of UIDAI. RS Sharma belongs to that rare tribe of bureaucrats who are also technocrats in it’s true sense.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews