14 DEC, 2011, 02.58AM IST,
T V Mohandas Pai, Citizen
The poor lack an identity in India. They have no income, no steady job, nor any assets. They are faceless and exist on the fringes of society. They are mere ciphers in government statistics. Since they cannot be identified or tracked, many feast in their name at the taxpayers' expense. The UID would give them an identity, enable the government to track them, deliver benefits and give them the ability to open a bank account. They would become part of the mainstream, like one of us! Of course, this would hurt a lot of vested interests who feast off them or in their name.
The UID would enable them to receive cash benefits directly in their own bank account, avail the benefits of government programmes, reduce huge wastage in subsidies, enable tracking of benefits and save taxpayers hard-earned money. It is the biggest enabler of benefits for the poor since Independence and has the potential to cleanse a corrupt system and accelerate reduction of poverty. The cost of the UID is a pittance for a programme of this scale and complexity and also compared to the benefits.
The UID programme is well designed, taking on a technological challenge that no other organisation has. The technology is cutting edge, extremely scalable and standard setting. UIDAI has succeeded in giving a number to about 10 crore people in a short time and can reach another 50 crore people in the next 2-3 years. There were many hurdles, but UIDAI appears to have a well-defined strategy to do so. The authority has created a supporting ecosystem that is sustainable and enrolled large number of partners. The UID also needs legal support in the form of a Data Protection Act, a Privacy Protection Act and so on. But with Parliament being unable to enact laws due to a hostile political environment, the only solution is to go ahead full steam because the poor cannot be held hostage to adversarial politics.
It is frustrating that the parliamentary committee has rejected the UID Bill on weak grounds, giving a political colour to a transformational programme. Most of their objections can easily be overcome. Our poor need the UID and are queuing up to enrol as they clearly see the benefits.