Finace Ministry balks at Rs45,000 Crore UID Price Tag
By K.A.Badrinath, S.Ronendra Singh
June 1st 2010
PM forms inter-ministerial panel to cut cost of Nilekani project
Nandan Nilekani’s project to give a numbered identity to each of India’s billion-plus people will cost Rs 45,000 crore. And the finance ministry is not amused.
Stiff resistance from the ministry to such an extravagant demand for money has forced the prime minister to order the formation of an inter-ministerial group to find ways of paring the project’s cost. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla will head the group.
As a result, the project itself, under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), headed by Nilekani, faces delays.
The Rs 45,000 crore cost projection was sprung on a cabinet committee on the project at a meeting last week. The cost is way above that projected only two months ago. In April, Nilekani had projected the cost of issuing a unique identity (UID) number at Rs 31 per person, based on pilot projects now under way in pockets of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. But the latest projection takes the cost to between Rs 450 and Rs 500 per person – clearly a red rag to the finance ministry.
The inter-ministerial group is tasked to bring down the cost by eliminating duplication in data compilation, a prerequisite for issuing UIDs. One key cost head is the planned appointment of several registrars who will collect data.
The finance ministry’s contention is that since a huge amount is already being spent on the census exercise, now being undertaken by the Registrar General of India, data so collected may be used by UIDAI, and thus save costs.
Cuts in other expensive parts of the project, such as support infrastructure, including biometric machines, are also favoured. The group will look into all this. A final decision on cuts will, however, be taken only by the cabinet committee on the project.
The finance ministry identified the multiple data collection sources and registrars – who include oil and telecom companies in both the public and private sectors – as a major cause of the cost escalation.
A ministry official said UIDAI could be asked to rely on the comprehensive census data which would be available by February next year.
Defending the need for multiple registrars, Nilekani told Financial Chronicle that they would be utilised to “enroll the residents.” “The Registrar General of India conducting the census is also a registrar for UIDAI,” he said. He foresaw no duplication in issuing UIDs by the many registrars. “Since each Indian will have only one unique number there is no possibility of duplication. Every registrar is providing services.”
If Nilekani is finally told to bank solely on census data, the rollout of UIDs may be delayed by six months. The first numbered identities may thus not come in August, as originally planned by Nilekani. Also, facilities for biometrics and iris scans will be available only after February.
UIDAI is expected to soon float tenders for data collection and biometric checks (for face, iris and finger prints of both hands) of all Indians over 15 years of age. If the finance ministry has its way, the tenders may not be floated at all.
In this year’s budget, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has set aside only Rs 1,900 crore for the project. Nilekani is on record that the project has already spent Rs 200 crore.
badarinath
Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.
Aadhaar
The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018
When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi
“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi
“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.
Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.
Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha
“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh
But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP
“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.
August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"
“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden
In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.
Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.
Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.
UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy
1) Denial
2) Issue fiats and point finger
3) Shoot messenger
4) Bury head in sand.
God Save India
