In the backdrop of the controversial Aadhaar Bill, 2016, passed in Parliament, Nandan Nilekani emphasised the importance of Aadhaar. The Infosys co-founder and former chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said that ‘unique infrastructure’ like JAM (Jan Dhan Bank Accounts, Aadhaar and Mobile) and India Stack will provide the ‘best environment for a mass flourishing of innovation’.
He was speaking at the 41st convocation of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) on Thursday, which marked the graduation of 597 students.
Aadhaar found support from Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson, IIMB Board of Governors, who hailed it as a ‘simple, yet transformational solution to the monumental challenge of delivering benefits and services in a very equitable, transparent and fair manner to every citizen in a populous country’.
Speaking about the shift from building ‘small, flexible networked organisations’ instead of ‘large, monolithics’, Mr. Nilekani said, “The nature of large businesses is changing from large employee-based conglomerates to a model where large businesses are aggregating smaller businesses on their platforms.”
At IIMB, the focus is on entrepreneurship. Ms. Shaw revealed that the institute is preparing to make entrepreneurship education a part of the Post Graduate Programme in Management from the coming academic year.
Sushil Vachani, Director, IIMB, will bid adieu this month-end. The former Boston University professor took charge in July 2014. Before that, IIMB had seen three ‘acting directors’ after Pankaj Chandra’s tenure ended in September 2013.
While the term of a director is typically for five years, Prof. Vachani’s appointment had sparked off a controversy as he was 63 at that time while the retirement age of IIM directors is 65.
In his 28-year-career at Boston University, where he was a tenured professor of Strategy and Innovation, Prof. Vachani also served as faculty director of the International Management Program in Japan, Chairman of the Strategy and Policy Department, Chairman of the Doctoral Program and Special Assistant to the university’s president for its India Initiative.
