Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
The metro is now a huge success, running - profitably - for 190 km on six lines with 142
stations, and carrying two million people a day. Extensions are on the way to bring the total
to 330 km by 2016. It has been modelled on the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR)
metro and the rolling stock has the same style and feel, with open carriages stretching the
length of a train. The only downside is poor construction maintenance at many stations,
plus an Airport Railway that was run unsuccessfully as a public-private partnership (PPP)
by the Reliance Group controlled by Anil Ambani till it was taken over by the metro cor-
poration.
Overall, the metro has done more to develop Delhi than any other initiative, opening up
new areas and changing society and working patterns. It has improved lifestyles and boos-
ted aspirations for people living in the crowded alleyways of old Delhi, the comfortable
colonies of central areas, and new multistorey flat developments in the suburbs, including
also led about ten other Indian cities to plan and build networks, some with him appropri-
ately as the adviser.
Nilekani's Aadhaar
Another project which shows the importance of strong political support is the Unique Iden-
tification Authority of India (UIDAI), whose chairman is Nandan Nilekani. The task is to
set up a countrywide personal biometric database and issue hundreds of millions of people
with a 12-digit unique identification number called an aadhaar (foundation stone). Estim-
ates have for years suggested that 70 per cent or more of such aid is lost on its way down
to rural recipients. By early 2013, the system was beginning to be used for a direct cash
transfer scheme to deliver aid money via Aadhaarvalidated bank accounts.
There were, inevitably, technical glitches when the scheme was being rolled out, but
Nilekani's ambitious aim is to have enrolled more than 50 per cent of the population by
2014. He was appointed by Manmohan Singh with the rank of a central cabinet minister in
2009 to set up and run the UIDAI. That provided him with the status he needed to be effect-
ive, but his strength in cutting through political and bureaucratic blockages has stemmed
from the backing of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. P. Chidambaram, the finance minister, has
called the identification number a 'game changer' in the delivery of corruption-prone aid
money and a 'massive re-engineering of the system'. Pranab Mukherjee and Montek Singh
Ahluwalia were also supporters, but the Gandhis' backing was crucial in the project's early
days when Chidambaram was home minister (2008-2012) and favoured his ministry's rival
scheme that was focused more on catching illegal immigrants.
