Premium12 Digit Masterstroke The Untold Story of Aadhaar review - The mission to give 1 billion people unique identities that was deemed impossible
Docubay’s new documentary, 12 Digit Masterstroke: The Untold Story of Aadhaar explores the challenges the UIDAI, led by Nandan Nilekani, faced in implementing the project, and how they overcame it
Last Updated: 12.55 PM, May 04, 2024
12 Digit Masterstroke The Untold Story of Aadhaar story: In 2009, co-founder of Infosys, Nandan Nilekani became employee Number 1 of the Unique Identifiation Authority of India (UIDAI), which would create a biometric identification system that assigns a 12-digit unique identification number to each citizen, linked to his/her biometric and demographic data. Providing unique identities to more than 1 billion people was a mammoth task that many deemed impossible to pull off. Yet that is exactly what Nandan and his motley crew did.
12 Digit Masterstroke The Untold Story of Aadhaar review: When the government proposes an initiative that impacts all citizens, irrespective of socio-economic-cultural backdrop, it is rarely welcomed with a red carpet. The implementation of the Aadhaar card, which got the private sector involved in a public sector undertaking, had hurdles at every step of the way. As a government-backed project, the opposition did not want it, citizens claimed breach of privacy and more. But, most importantly, experts who looked at the scale of the operation and the deliverables said that it was an impossible task.
The team behind Aadhaar, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) led by Nandan Nilekani, not only remained unfazed by the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but looked at workarounds for each of the problems posed. It was not easy and it did not happen overnight and that is what Docubay’s 12 Digit Masterstroke The Untold Story of Aadhaar unfolds.
Featuring brief interviews with the core team behind Aadhaar, Nandan Nilekani, Ram Sewak Sharma, Srikanth Nadhamuni, Ganga K, the feature length documentary details how the Manmohan Singh government floated the project, and had them working like a start-up, out of an apartment in Bengaluru, and how they later won over the subsequent government, led by Narendra Modi, who was one of Aadhaar’s biggest opponents.
12 Digit Masterstroke: The Untold Story of Aadhaar’s brief is simple. Stick to one side of the story – This is what Nandan and team set out to do, what did they promise, the timeline it took, what did they deliver and, how has the Unique ID come to benefit crores of people across the country. It does not deviate from this set path, providing a straight-forward narrative from the architects of one of India’s biggest digital ventures.
The objections to the implementation of Aadhaar and the potential danger of data theft get cursory mentions, but the documentary does not delve into any of it. Instead, it proceeds to give the UIDAI a pat on the back for successfully carrying out this operation, which has ensured that the rightful beneficiaries of government services, welfare benefits and subsidies receive them.
12 Digit Masterstroke The Untold Story of Aadhaar verdict: Docubay's new documentary is a basic exploration of what it took to make Aadhaar a reality, presenting brief insight into the challenges thrown at the team in implementing a mammoth operation covering every citizen of the country. This is the story of the Aadhaar as told by the people behind it. This is not the story that will tell you about the data breaches and security issues associated with Aadhaar.
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