Nandan Nilekani may help build tech Infra for healthcare scheme

BENGALURU: Nandan Nilekani, chairman of IT services major Infosys and the architect of Aadhaar, will help the government in building the technology infrastructure for the National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), the ambitious health insurance scheme announced by the government in the Budget.

The scheme, which looks to cover 10 crore families with health insurance benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year, may be implemented through a platform similar to Aadhaar, the PTI reported quoting an unnamed Niti Aayog official. “We have consulted Nilkeni, we want to build Aadhaar-like model for the scheme (NHPS)... He has agreed to help us,” the official was quoted as saying.

Niti Aayog, the country’s policy think tank has consulted with Nilekani the prospects for developing a large distribution model similar to Aadhaar. Nilekani did not respond to calls or messages for comment. The government is looking to leverage technology to manage and administer the insurance scheme, which is said to be the largest in the world. Nilekani has also been the architect of the Goods and Service Tax Network (GSTN), the backbone for the new tax regime in the country. While the technology infrastructure will factor in the existing distribution models in various states, the NHPS might also allow portability across states.


The government may look at existing insurance models in states such as Karnataka, West Bengal and Rajasthan and find the best suited model for scaling it up nationally.