Fri, Nov 26, 2010 at 8:04 AM
Meeting on UID at IAS Association, Infantry Road on 23rd Nov 2010
By Rajeev Manikoth
I was slightly disappointed that there was no one from the UID body to engage with. But all the same it made for some interesting views, including the demo of how easily biometrics could be so easily forged.
Mr.Vidyashankar is a dedicated government official and has naturally taken pride in achieving no.1 status in Karnataka in getting the UID data capturing process going in a short while. He was also eloquent in how tech savvy his team was and were "brilliantly" implementing it. And many more like him across the country will be focussed on implementing a "directive" without really looking at the larger context.
The real worry is that I think we are getting a trifle too caught up in battling the technology - whether it will be accurate, possibilities of duplication, forgery etc. These are aspects that can always be countered. What if they do evolve a foolproof technology to implement this?
( Technology apart, we have a Director in the MHA selling out confidential data ! )
I believe that our focus needs to be on the core issue of the Aadhar concept itself, it's real intent ... and why it needs to be scrapped.
India is now being viewed as a "market" with huge ROI. Take a billion plus people and see how they can be "milked". The whole business of emerging private micro finance corporations are an example. There are thousands of business plans and models being conceived for our rural hinterland. And believe me the goal is not the uplifting of the masses!
( I had voiced this in the meeting and am not surprised to see it in the article posted today : Money Life Article )
I was slightly disappointed that there was no one from the UID body to engage with. But all the same it made for some interesting views, including the demo of how easily biometrics could be so easily forged.
Mr.Vidyashankar is a dedicated government official and has naturally taken pride in achieving no.1 status in Karnataka in getting the UID data capturing process going in a short while. He was also eloquent in how tech savvy his team was and were "brilliantly" implementing it. And many more like him across the country will be focussed on implementing a "directive" without really looking at the larger context.
The real worry is that I think we are getting a trifle too caught up in battling the technology - whether it will be accurate, possibilities of duplication, forgery etc. These are aspects that can always be countered. What if they do evolve a foolproof technology to implement this?
( Technology apart, we have a Director in the MHA selling out confidential data ! )
I believe that our focus needs to be on the core issue of the Aadhar concept itself, it's real intent ... and why it needs to be scrapped.
India is now being viewed as a "market" with huge ROI. Take a billion plus people and see how they can be "milked". The whole business of emerging private micro finance corporations are an example. There are thousands of business plans and models being conceived for our rural hinterland. And believe me the goal is not the uplifting of the masses!
( I had voiced this in the meeting and am not surprised to see it in the article posted today : Money Life Article )
What is immensely frightening is the fact that there are some people sitting in high places and scheming these policies as a business equation. And the citizenry are blissfully unaware, just don't care or comes to know too late.
Food security for India is going to be a major issue. We see the initial rumblings already with cases like Monsanto, the sad reality of food rotting in inefficient inadequate storage facilities. A minister and PM who would rather stick to policy and let millions of our own people starve. Huge tracts of agricultural land being diverted for other purposes. The West and institutions like the World Bank work on the principle of creating dependencies. If India does not take a hard stand that guarantees freedom and liberty in all its development goals, and define policies that give our people and resources first priority, we are going to be in big trouble. I am afraid that UID will be only one of the major issues.
But first, we as a nation need to be able to clearly define the idea of what "development" should be for India from our own context, independent of all biases.
Food security for India is going to be a major issue. We see the initial rumblings already with cases like Monsanto, the sad reality of food rotting in inefficient inadequate storage facilities. A minister and PM who would rather stick to policy and let millions of our own people starve. Huge tracts of agricultural land being diverted for other purposes. The West and institutions like the World Bank work on the principle of creating dependencies. If India does not take a hard stand that guarantees freedom and liberty in all its development goals, and define policies that give our people and resources first priority, we are going to be in big trouble. I am afraid that UID will be only one of the major issues.
But first, we as a nation need to be able to clearly define the idea of what "development" should be for India from our own context, independent of all biases.
All policies will then need to be based on this.
Can development be separated from political interests?
Daunting indeed knowing the reality of our current political crop!
Can development be separated from political interests?
Daunting indeed knowing the reality of our current political crop!
The real "convergence" that is happening, to my mind is that of "immense profit" bring together the politicians, the corporations, mediahouses, middlemen, PR agencies and other species inbetween ...
