More intellectuals to be involved in process of governance: PM

On Board special flight, July 11 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said that Nandan Nilekani's appointment has been widely welcomed and there would be involvement of more and more top intellectuals in process of governance.

Addressing a press conference onboard after attending the G8-G5 summit at L'Aquila in Italy, Dr. Singh said, "I would like to involve more and more intellectuals in the process of governance in our country. In due course of time, we could enlarge this process. We need all the wisdom, knowledge and experience."

"There is enormous reserve of wisdom, knowledge and experience outside the political system. It has to be harnessed in the service of Indian people. It will be my effort to do so at a pace which it does not have side effect," he added.

Nilekani left Infosys on July 9 to serve as the chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority of India, in the rank of a cabinet minister under invitation from Dr. Singh.

In January, the Government of India has notified the creation of the National Authority of Unique Identity.

The ambitious plan of unique identification has been allocated Rs 100 crore in the interim budget of 2009-10.

The unique identification number aims at eliminating the need for multiple identification mechanism prevalent across various government departments, and it will ensure that each Indian citizen will carry a permanent identifier from birth to death. By Naveen Kapoor (ANI)