UIDAI project hits a snag, face staff shortage
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 09 August 2010, 23:39 IST
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New Delhi: The Unique Identification Authority of India has a major problem on its platter. The agency faces an acute shortage of manpower for the ambitious project, reports Kalyan Ray of Deccan Herald. Around 50 percent of the government officers appointed for the UID project have either refused to join the agency or simply did not turn up after their posting. Out of 55 people required to man the headquarters and regional offices, only 10 of them have resumed duties so far. On his part, Nandan Nilekani, the man spearheading the project, tried to offer extra financial incentives. But the offers were turned down by the Finance Ministry. Among the incentives offered by Nilekani include giving the officers 30 percent of pay in the as allowance plus grade pay. Additional facilities would include housing, telephone and medical insurance facilities. The offers were rejected by the Department of Expenditure citing they were not in agreement with the norms of the government. Instead it suggested starting a performance-based incentive scheme. The main reasons behind this truant behavior of the officers range from they not interested in working in other cities to refusing to come to Delhi due to the facilities they enjoy in states. Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh have significant number of vacancies and if this trend continues the UIDAI could face a major roadblock in its way of delivering what it promised.