December 16, 2011
R. RAMAKUMAR
In this file photo, a man records his identity with an iris scanner for obtaining the Aadhar card, at the Head Post Office in Madurai. Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance has raised serious questions about the idea of Aadhaar.
The government should pay heed to the parliamentary standing committee's views and suspend the Aadhaar project. It would be a travesty to push the project in through the backdoor.
“…The Committee categorically convey their unacceptability of the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010…The Committee would, thus, urge the Government to reconsider and review the UID scheme.…”
This was the conclusion of Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance (SCoF), which examined the Bill to convert the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) into a statutory authority. With this categorical rebuff, the SCoF dealt a body blow to the Aadhaar project, which is being implemented from September 2010 without Parliament's approval.
Technically speaking, the SCoF report asked the government to bring forth fresh legislation before Parliament. However, a careful examination of the report shows that it does not just reject the Bill, it also raises serious questions about the idea of Aadhaar itself.
In fact, the report so comprehensively questions the idea that any effort to introduce fresh legislation would require, as a prerequisite, a re-look at the foundational principles on which the project was conceived.
There are broadly five important arguments in the SCoF report.
First, it contains scathing criticism of the government for beginning Aadhaar enrolment without Parliament's approval for the Bill.
Currently, UIDAI enjoys only executive authority, and no statutory authority. The justification that the government presented before the SCoF was as follows: the powers of the executive are co-extensive with the legislative powers of the government, and this allows the government to exercise executive powers in spheres not regulated by legislation.
The government also cited the Attorney-General's advice, which noted that “executive power operates independently” of Parliament and that “there is nothing in law that prevents the [UIDAI] from functioning under the Executive Authorisation.”
The SCoF rejects this position, and states that the government's legal justification “does not satisfy the Committee.” The legal position upheld by the SCoF is that co-extensiveness of powers does not permit the executive to do what it pleases; when constitutional rights and protections are potentially violated, the powers of the executive remain circumscribed by those of the legislature.
Secondly, the SCoF raises serious questions about the enrolment process followed for Aadhaar numbers. The issue of Aadhaar numbers “is riddled with serious lacunae,” and this problem can be traced to conceptualisation “with no clarity of purpose” and implementation in “a directionless way with a lot of confusion.” For instance, the Ministry of Finance felt that there was “lack of coordination” across the six agencies collecting personal information, leading to “duplication of efforts and expenditure.” The Ministry of Home raised “serious security concerns” over the introducer model used to enrol persons without any proof of residence.
The report concludes that the enrolment process “compromises the security and confidentiality of information of Aadhaar number holders,” and has “far reaching consequences for national security.” The reason: “the possibility of possession of Aadhaar numbers by illegal residents through false affidavits/introducer system.”
Thirdly, the SCoF comes down heavily on the government for proceeding with the project without “enactment of a national data protection law,” which is a “pre-requisite for any law that deals with large-scale collection of information from individuals and its linkages across separate databases.”
In its submission to the SCoF, the government had taken a dismissive view of the right to privacy of individuals. It noted that “collection of information without a privacy law in place does not violate the right to privacy of the individual.”
The SCoF rejects this view, and notes that in the absence of legislation for data protection, “it would be difficult to deal with the issues like access and misuse of personal information, surveillance, profiling, linking and matching of databases and securing confidentiality of information.”
Fourthly, the report strongly disapproves of “the hasty manner” in which the project was cleared. It concludes that a “comprehensive feasibility study…ought to have been done before approving such an expensive scheme.”
This conclusion follows the government's admission to the SCoF that “no committee has been constituted to study the financial implications of the UID scheme,” and that “comparative costs of the Aadhaar number and various existing ID documents are also not available.”
The total cost of the Aadhaar project would run into multiples of ten thousand crore of rupees. For just Phase 1 and 2, where 10 crore residents were to be enrolled, the allocation was Rs. 3,170 crore. For Phase 3, where another 10 crore residents are to be enrolled, the allocation is Rs. 8,861 crore. In a rough extrapolation, for 120 crore residents the total cost would then be over Rs. 72,000 crore. Is the Comptroller and Auditor General listening?
Fifthly, the report tears apart the faith placed on biometrics to prove the unique identity of individuals. It notes that “the scheme is full of uncertainty in technology” and is built upon “untested, unreliable technology.”
It criticises the UIDAI for disregarding
(a) the warnings of its Biometrics Standards Committee about high error rates in fingerprint collection;
(b) the inability of Proof of Concept studies to promise low error rates when 1.2 billion persons are enrolled; and
(c) the reservations within the government on “the necessity of collection of IRIS image.”
The report concludes that, given the limitations of biometrics, “it is unlikely that the proposed objectives of the UID scheme could be achieved.”
The SCoF report cites the experience from the United Kingdom, where a similar ID scheme was shelved. It dismisses the government's contention that “comparison between developed countries…versus India…is not a reasonable one.” It states that “there are lessons from the global experience to be learnt,” which the government has “ignored completely.” It cites issues of cost overruns, fallacies of technology and risks to the safety of citizens, and notes: “as these findings are very much relevant and applicable to the UID scheme, they should have been seriously considered.”
The SCoF report has invited sharp reactions from the business press and pro-business lobbies. One report argued that, after the Foreign Direct Investment-in-retail fiasco, it is “another Indian reform massacre;” for another, it is a “setback to the government's attempts to revive faltering economic reforms;” and for yet another, the title was “UPA reforms agenda hit again.”
These predictable reactions only reaffirm the widely held belief that Aadhaar is an integral component of the neo-liberal reform programme of UPA-2. In fact, the SCoF deserves praise for standing up to pressure from powerful quarters, and not allowing the moment to be hijacked by vested interests.
Ironically, till last week, the same SCoF had come in for profuse praise from none other than Nandan Nilekani himself.
He had said in August 2011: “I have had the occasion to…make a presentation on more than one occasion to the Standing Committee…let me tell you they do an extraordinarily thorough job. I am very, very impressed with the quality of questions, the homework, the due diligence, the seriousness that they view these things with. And it is very bipartisan, you can't make out who is from which party because they all ask on the issue. So when you have such an excellent system of law-making...Let us respect that, let us give them the opportunity to call all the experts for and against and let them come out with something. They are the appropriate people, they are our representatives.”
The “representatives” have now spoken. For the government, the most dignified way ahead is to pay heed to the SCoF's views and suspend the Aadhaar project immediately.
Each conclusion in the report should be discussed threadbare in the public domain. Biometrics should be withdrawn from government projects as a proof of identity. Alternative, and cheaper, measures to provide people with valid identity proofs should be explored. However, it would be a travesty of democratic principles if the government disregards the SCoF report and pushes the project in through the backdoor.
(R. Ramakumar is Associate Professor with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)
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Comments:
Bad, Bad, Bad reporting by this news paper. Standing comittee was supposed to submit its report in three months. But they wasted one year, at the end what came out of the comittee is worth nothing. The comittee did not even try to do objective analysis of the scheme. The whole report is politically bisased, and I condemn this new paper to publish the bad report with an ugly analsys. The expenditure numbers are wrong. UIDAI has mentioned that, cost of each number is about Rs 100 and if that is extrapolated for 120 crore people, the expense is 1200 crores is the base cost. For poor people, Rs 50 was reimbursed in Phase 1 and 2. if that is done for 60 crore people, that cost is Rs 3000 crore. Rs 72,000 crore is wild imagination. It only helps to spread false information.
A Scheduled Bank's Passbook is more than sufficient to prove an individual's idenyiyy.
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 05:09 IST
Aadhar has been an amibitious project and it's unfortunate that the concerns raised by SCoF are not thought out beforehand. May be the result of not taking all stake holders into confidence before making important decisions. Classic project mgmt mistake. Rather than wasting more resources on this impractical initiative, emphasis should now be on the lessons learned and try to reuse some of the data collected. For future, a framework to collect data from various other government sources should be established. Passport,Payroll,Tax,Electricity data may be a some sources of truth. A foolproof framework to enforce birth/death registration also should be devised. Instead of a perfect solution, framework should be designed in such a way to be be self-corrective over a period of time. User database built over a period of time may be more practical rather than everything once. I truly wish that valuable lesssons will be learnt from this experience for a better and sustainable solution in future.
Even though while launching the UIDAI scheme, the UPA Government had termed it the key to the growth engine and symbol of the new and modern India” and key to “bridging the two Indias”, where you “take some” from the “India of opportunity” and “put them” into the “India without opportunity, in effect it is a Biggest Business Opportunity since Liberalization and opportunity to prosper in this digital world through taxpayers hard-earned money. As uncertainty is looming at large on the faith of UIDAI due to the imminent standoff between UPA-II combine and the principal opposition party in the parliament and outside on this issue what will happen to the six crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued even before Parliament has taken up the matter for legislative discussion and the substantial amount from the taxpayers money that has already been spent on UIDAI. While the Government can very well reject the report of the Standing Committee and go ahead with the UIDAI project, in case if the Government decides to conveniently scrap the project for its Political survival as in the case of retreat noticed in FDI in retail sector and other issues, who will take the responsibility for the taxpayers money spent on this score?
Adhar project was started with much fanfare by PM himself and touted as most important. As of now it has collected data and it cost the public, as per news reports, more then Rs.500 crores. If it is discarded now it will be a huge waste of public money which could have been used otherwise. I am surprised to see the home ministry raising objection at this late stage and certain committee has not approved. That means, no proper study has been done and not all departments gave their views and the scheme was started without proper study. The waste of public money should not be condoned and those responsible should be punished. I feel a proper enquiry is ordered to find out the real cause of this calosal loss, instead of waiting to become a big scandal. It shows there is no coordination within the government where huge amount of public money is spent.
The idea behind the scheme is to root out corruption on government schemes. Ironically, I had to bribe to get the form and after giving the data, I have yet to get my Aadhar card though it is nearly five months since I applied.My problem is as to whom should I bribe to get the card?
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 07:38 IST
Well, if you think this was the only way the UPA was Siphoning of money, then you should look at the other shell Corporations which they have made - NSDC, which on the face of it suggests that they wish to develop skills by distributing money (from Govt. provided corpus of 500 Cr. + 500 Cr.) to Pvt players without having any accountability. And similar is the case of NPCI. So the next time you hear a corporation whose name begins with N - National, think twice on what it actually does and whose purpose it fulfils.
Mr Ramakumar's article is a walk down a predictably short sighted path - instead of understanding the large scale benefits that identification can provide, in terms of targeted subsidies and other services and the savings that entails, he has chosen to portray the entire exercise as something which is a futile exercise and not something that is inherently a positive initiative which can be tinkered around with and made better. What I find particularly laughable is the respect that he clearly has for this committee whose primary objections seem to be procedural!
Any reasonable person would have expected far better from Mr Nilekani. Faced with problems of systemic data lacunae across various government-sponsored schemes over the years, the most critical task was to ensure a fool-proof data collection system. Instead, UIDAI adopted, perhaps deliberately, and perhaps driven by the kind of short-term target achievement focus that has become a hallmark of corporate business methods nowadays, a numbers approach (100mn, 200mn, 600 mn, 1.2 bn...) that has fallen disastrously short on quality. And for what? To adopt a centralised database system whose viability in India is no better than it could be anywhere in the world. The Wikileaks world, where people choose to compromise the most secure databases in the world. This is reality, technological reality. Mr Nilekani is selling a pie in the sky, and the author is right to point out the true cost, including, as SCoF has highlighted, the social cost of violation of prIvacy.
Nice and simple article.Hats off standing committee.Bye Bye Aadhar.
Good. The Aadhar project has too many loop holes and hence not fit to be considered as 'the single identity' for an Indian Citizen. Lets not waste money and resources on adding one more to a long list of identification documents already available.
This is a travesty of an analysis. The author has not invested any intellectual capital in producing this piece. SCoF needs to provide a legal justification with constitutional backing for why the UIDAI cannot exist as an executive body. This it has failed to do. Just stating that the jutification “does not satisfy the Committee” does not cut it. The only valid point that the SCoF has raised is the reliance on an introduction without verified address of residence. This must surely be addressed. I don't how the SCoF can claim that biometrics is not a trusted technology. A cursory reading of the subject proves otherwise. It is a shame when a legislative committee makes a statement without offering proof. The SCoF is too sloppy a piece of work to deserve any credit. It belongs in the dustbin.
Very Nice article,Thanks to the writer for letting us know the loops holes in AADHAAR project.My appreciations for standing committee who are doing a very good job irrespective of parties in building the nation in right direction be it AADHAAR project, 2g scam probe,CVC's appointment.It is one of the ambitious project of the UPA-2 and goverment should consider all the views before pushing the project forward any more as it is linked with a huge amount of people's money instead of pushing it back door.
Incredible! What a timely article! I thank The Hindu for sourcing such an important piece. As a citizen of India one would enjoy all the rights enshrined in the constituion. Right to privacy falls well under the ambit of fundamental rights. There were lot of rumours about the Aadhar project regarding its efficacy, safety and purpose. But the SCoF has now let the cat out of the bag, the common people should be sensitised of this for the government though elected by them does not possess the right to subdue their right to privacy. I have read a lot of negative stuff about Aadhar lately, but this hits the nail on the coffin, coming from the parliamentary body itself. UPA better take notice.
What about the thousands of crores already spent? No one is giving a clear reason why biometrics will fail. When you do iris scan, 10 fingers and facial recognition there is a very high probability of successful identification. There are definitely issues with this project but that is true of any large project. The standing committee should try for means to resolve these issues, not bring down the project for petty political gains and waste more of taxpayers money.
If the views of general public who showed eagerness to enroll themselves for Aaadhaar is heard, we can hear a chorus of anger, disappointment and frustration.There are no simple and fool proof background infrastructure in place. Many senior citizens will tell how they have ben made to run from pillar to post even to get the enrolment form. To say to all of them that they can get it downloaded from the computers will be ridiculous. So much for the preliminaries.There are enough indications that despite the hype and fanfare, the projectv is a non starter and if the project is to be adamantly pursued, it will lead us to another chaotic situation.With the issuance of voters id card, there is afairly well established data base. Efforts should be made to weed out bogus cards and the additional inputs to make them unique can be a better option and less taxing to the public and will reduce wasteful expenditure.It will be in national interest to shelve the project to nip another scam in the bud.
oh really it is a baseless project and it was only for UPA-II popularty and for making all foreigners indian citizen for their vote bank . who gave right to waste public money for such base less project and without the constitution permission. It is also a part of scam.
Mr.Ramkumar's 'opinion' seems predetermined and exploiting the standing committee findings. His voice is like the mob frenzy who rant 'hang' 'burn'. I find it insensitive to educated minds who can decide for themselves. Before publishing an extreme view point, the paper should verify twice and even then hesitate to print strong views loaded with bias.
Kudos to the Representatives of SCoF for raising the Aadhaar Issue on time. The small office certified for issuing Aadhaar nearby our residence finds it diffuclt to handle the crowd waiting from early morning hours to get the application by noon. Appointments are given only after a few days for the collection of biometrics. An office goer is penalised of two days of his CL just to have have his identity registered. Calculate for the billions of office goers,the waste of his/her productive time. It is a national waste on productivity. To add, peoples apathy on Aadhaar is worsened by the frequent failures of the electronic gadgets in the issuing office, semi skilled or ignorant operators, high MTBF, poor service rates, absence of standby or replacement electronic gadgets and so on. It is less likely that Aadhaar can be successful in mighty populated countries like India where quality of technology management and service ae still under debate.
Whether it is issue of voters identity card or collection of census data the approach of govt is always casual.There is no credibility in the data and every effort is made to make that system failure.The same thing is being done with adhar scheme also.Instead of suggesting improvement to the system instead of pointing to only lacunae is a typical Indian way of looking at the problem.to say it in tamil "potham pothuvile ethayavadhu sollittu poidaradhu" without thinking about the consequences.It will really be sad if and when adhar scheme is scrapped.
There should be a pause to look at the major objections to this project and the worthlessness of the objections. 1)Lack of authority - if there is a violation of the law , let a FIR or PIL be filed. 2)Huge amounts of money being wasted - Rs 170,000 crores of annual subsidy is being spent by the government with leakages over 50 percent.This is a one time investment of 20,000cr that can bring leakages to under 2 percent. 3)Cost benefit analysis - the cost benefit analysis of having an Indian government funded by tax payers money is about 15 percent according to Rajeev Gandhi. Let us get rid of this government. 4)The article has merely reported what someone else has said. There is no independent analysis of the observations of the Parliamentary Committee nor is there critical analysis on the Committee's observations. 5)Biometrics - Nobody has proved that fingerprints and iris scans taken together are a failure. If failure rate is 1%,so? 5)The NPR can be scrapped.Why Aadhar?
There was a report that Aadhaar is making a backdoor entry. It is sheer folly on the part of the oil marketing companies to start insisting on Aadhaar Card, when Parliament is yet to approve the scheme and foolproof method has not been made for the issue of the cards. More centres to be opened in every locality and the cards should be issued without any hassle. Now one has to run from pillar to post to locate a centre and if one reaches the Centre he is told to come some other day to collect the token for visiting for fingerprinting etc. The oil marketing companies will do well to wait and not jump the gun when Government and the UIDAI are still dithering. In the context of ScoF’s report, it is better the Aadhaar Project is shelved.
No doubt "AADHAR"is a great initiative by the govt. Rather than castigating the project,the report of the SCoF must be taken in constructive manner and steps should be taken to ensure that all the points raised by SCoF committee are well studied and taken care of.
Aadhar number is akin to the SSN number in the US. Most legal residents can register to get SSN number. However, illegal immigrants or those who donot qualify for getting social security can get an alternative ITIN number.These numbers provide a digital identity to residents and make it very easy to track-predominantly the financial transactions of a resident. I strongly feel that Indian citizens should have a 'digital identity' of their own. As our economy gallops,we need better ways to track, file and compile data about 1.2 billion people in this country. However, AADHAR should be designed in such a way that citizens, legal residents and illegal immigrants or those with questionable status in India get different patterns of this number.
This excellent article brings to light yet another bungling of the UPA 2 government that is in utter disarray. The points raised by SCoF have been flouted by the government in an attitude of 'who are to question?'. It is hard to believe, that the government was not aware of the futility of such a project or the procedural lapses it has committed. The argument that executive could function with out legislation is frivolous, particularly related to a project that costs a whooping Rs.72000 crores and also poses potential threat to National security. The entire government is directionless and appears senile and insensitive to rationale. ‘Vinasa Kale Vibhareetha Buddhi' the Sanskrit adage is the most appropriate description of the attitude of the current UPA2 government.
SCoF has done justice to Indians. Aadhar instead of strengthening security compromises not only security but also privacy. India must learn lessons from other countries's mistakes instead of committing the same mistakes.
I put myself in the position of a member of the corrupt politician-bureaucrat-businessman nexus and started thinking. It will be too bad if every one gets an identity. How can I take/give bribes if all transactions happen electronically? How can I divert funds meant for the poor? How can I stash money in foreign banks. How can I make money for my 5th generation? It will be too bad if the poor do not remain poor. The best way to get peace is to form a committee. Give it about 10 years to give a report. Take another 10 to deliberate on it and then shelve it. By then my grandson will be ready to play the same game all over again.
Aadhar is faulty. passport could be faked. ration card can be got by bribing. bank pass book can be got with the connivance of bank authorities. so status quo? All these are the defects in the system. You plug these loop-holes. in our country, most of the people are genuine Indians. Some of them are intruders. why don't you segregate the doubtful and issue Aadhar to the rest and settle the doubtful cases after proper scrutiny. even in the case of the intruders, they have intruded because they found our country better than the place from where they came. The govt. cannot effectively seal its borders. why blame the intruder. they may be given a temporary residency cards.or deport them. for those who are talking about privacy - man is a social animal. if he steps out of his house, then others should know who he is. then only others' safety is ensured. because of the absence of identity, criminals escape.how many have jumped bails? disappeared? So aadhar is a must to get rid of our ills.
I really wonder whether people that jump at making nasty comments even bother reading the argument. Mr. Saurabh Sharma should make attempts at countering the argument at an intellectual level rather than succumbing to bitter rambling.
1)Check the backlog of the judicial system and make judgments on the efficacy of taking that route. 2)What are these "wasted" subsidies? Elaborate a bit further please. Secondly, the claim that it will bring the leakages down to 2% is just that, a trumped up number without any logical reasoning - demagogic, if you will. 3)Poor source, poorer comment. 4)The writer has written prolifically in both the Hindu and Frontline magazine with independent analysis of it. 5)Read R.Ramakumar's argument again. 6)See no. 5.As for Mr. Sekhar, only if inter/extrapolating worked, everyone in India would be earning 50K a month.
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:32 IST
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Comments:
R Ramakumar should enhance his credibility by proposing an alternate system ( even if it has loopholes).As a citizen of this country I am happy that Aadhar will give me many facilities including an identity that I can use across the country.No more harassment.If Ramakumar has an alternative system he should propose it and get it passed. I will accept that. Till then I think that this demagogue (as he appears repeatedly in the Hindu), clever with words , should not attack this project. Every system in the world will have problems. Our Constitution is the most flawed system in the country on many counts. It is under this Constitution that basic rights of millions of oppressed are trampled upon with impunity.Compared to this monumental blunder the Aadhar Card offers millions an opportunity to live a decent life. Can this assistant professor offer them a better alternative? If not,give me Aadhar.
from: Saurabh Sharma
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 03:59 IST Bad, Bad, Bad reporting by this news paper. Standing comittee was supposed to submit its report in three months. But they wasted one year, at the end what came out of the comittee is worth nothing. The comittee did not even try to do objective analysis of the scheme. The whole report is politically bisased, and I condemn this new paper to publish the bad report with an ugly analsys. The expenditure numbers are wrong. UIDAI has mentioned that, cost of each number is about Rs 100 and if that is extrapolated for 120 crore people, the expense is 1200 crores is the base cost. For poor people, Rs 50 was reimbursed in Phase 1 and 2. if that is done for 60 crore people, that cost is Rs 3000 crore. Rs 72,000 crore is wild imagination. It only helps to spread false information.
from: Sekhar
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 04:35 IST A Scheduled Bank's Passbook is more than sufficient to prove an individual's idenyiyy.
from: S Krishnamoorthy
Why is India worried about biometrics when the whole world finds it good.Do we still want people of neigbouring states to pur in and take our resources? and they stay without any identity and all political parties will make efforts to issue them identity before elections. The rest is politics of ego..and people just fall into trap ...There should be something unique that identifies as an INDIAN .Don't depend on the so called many cards that can easily made in a DTP centre.we want UID anyway.
from: rajesh
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 05:50 IST Aadhar has been an amibitious project and it's unfortunate that the concerns raised by SCoF are not thought out beforehand. May be the result of not taking all stake holders into confidence before making important decisions. Classic project mgmt mistake. Rather than wasting more resources on this impractical initiative, emphasis should now be on the lessons learned and try to reuse some of the data collected. For future, a framework to collect data from various other government sources should be established. Passport,Payroll,Tax,Electricity data may be a some sources of truth. A foolproof framework to enforce birth/death registration also should be devised. Instead of a perfect solution, framework should be designed in such a way to be be self-corrective over a period of time. User database built over a period of time may be more practical rather than everything once. I truly wish that valuable lesssons will be learnt from this experience for a better and sustainable solution in future.
from: vijay
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 06:28 IST Even though while launching the UIDAI scheme, the UPA Government had termed it the key to the growth engine and symbol of the new and modern India” and key to “bridging the two Indias”, where you “take some” from the “India of opportunity” and “put them” into the “India without opportunity, in effect it is a Biggest Business Opportunity since Liberalization and opportunity to prosper in this digital world through taxpayers hard-earned money. As uncertainty is looming at large on the faith of UIDAI due to the imminent standoff between UPA-II combine and the principal opposition party in the parliament and outside on this issue what will happen to the six crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued even before Parliament has taken up the matter for legislative discussion and the substantial amount from the taxpayers money that has already been spent on UIDAI. While the Government can very well reject the report of the Standing Committee and go ahead with the UIDAI project, in case if the Government decides to conveniently scrap the project for its Political survival as in the case of retreat noticed in FDI in retail sector and other issues, who will take the responsibility for the taxpayers money spent on this score?
from: E. Krishnadas
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 06:51 IST Adhar project was started with much fanfare by PM himself and touted as most important. As of now it has collected data and it cost the public, as per news reports, more then Rs.500 crores. If it is discarded now it will be a huge waste of public money which could have been used otherwise. I am surprised to see the home ministry raising objection at this late stage and certain committee has not approved. That means, no proper study has been done and not all departments gave their views and the scheme was started without proper study. The waste of public money should not be condoned and those responsible should be punished. I feel a proper enquiry is ordered to find out the real cause of this calosal loss, instead of waiting to become a big scandal. It shows there is no coordination within the government where huge amount of public money is spent.
from: Veeraswami V
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 07:16 IST The idea behind the scheme is to root out corruption on government schemes. Ironically, I had to bribe to get the form and after giving the data, I have yet to get my Aadhar card though it is nearly five months since I applied.My problem is as to whom should I bribe to get the card?
from: S N IYER
The aadhar is a good move by the goverment but one with many holes in it. There has been objection from various quarters. With the kind of terror incidences and illegal migrants it is necessary to have such a project. There should be a data protection law to enable protection and remedy in case of data being accessed. The staggering cost also makes us rethink about the whole project.
from: Mira Pawar
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 07:44 IST Well, if you think this was the only way the UPA was Siphoning of money, then you should look at the other shell Corporations which they have made - NSDC, which on the face of it suggests that they wish to develop skills by distributing money (from Govt. provided corpus of 500 Cr. + 500 Cr.) to Pvt players without having any accountability. And similar is the case of NPCI. So the next time you hear a corporation whose name begins with N - National, think twice on what it actually does and whose purpose it fulfils.
from: Blunt
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 07:57 IST Mr Ramakumar's article is a walk down a predictably short sighted path - instead of understanding the large scale benefits that identification can provide, in terms of targeted subsidies and other services and the savings that entails, he has chosen to portray the entire exercise as something which is a futile exercise and not something that is inherently a positive initiative which can be tinkered around with and made better. What I find particularly laughable is the respect that he clearly has for this committee whose primary objections seem to be procedural!
from: Siddharth
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 08:11 IST Any reasonable person would have expected far better from Mr Nilekani. Faced with problems of systemic data lacunae across various government-sponsored schemes over the years, the most critical task was to ensure a fool-proof data collection system. Instead, UIDAI adopted, perhaps deliberately, and perhaps driven by the kind of short-term target achievement focus that has become a hallmark of corporate business methods nowadays, a numbers approach (100mn, 200mn, 600 mn, 1.2 bn...) that has fallen disastrously short on quality. And for what? To adopt a centralised database system whose viability in India is no better than it could be anywhere in the world. The Wikileaks world, where people choose to compromise the most secure databases in the world. This is reality, technological reality. Mr Nilekani is selling a pie in the sky, and the author is right to point out the true cost, including, as SCoF has highlighted, the social cost of violation of prIvacy.
from: Vickram Crishna
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 09:19 IST Nice and simple article.Hats off standing committee.Bye Bye Aadhar.
from: Sridevi MuraliKrishna
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 09:51 IST Good. The Aadhar project has too many loop holes and hence not fit to be considered as 'the single identity' for an Indian Citizen. Lets not waste money and resources on adding one more to a long list of identification documents already available.
from: Geetha
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:12 IST This is a travesty of an analysis. The author has not invested any intellectual capital in producing this piece. SCoF needs to provide a legal justification with constitutional backing for why the UIDAI cannot exist as an executive body. This it has failed to do. Just stating that the jutification “does not satisfy the Committee” does not cut it. The only valid point that the SCoF has raised is the reliance on an introduction without verified address of residence. This must surely be addressed. I don't how the SCoF can claim that biometrics is not a trusted technology. A cursory reading of the subject proves otherwise. It is a shame when a legislative committee makes a statement without offering proof. The SCoF is too sloppy a piece of work to deserve any credit. It belongs in the dustbin.
from: Santosh C
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:12 IST Very Nice article,Thanks to the writer for letting us know the loops holes in AADHAAR project.My appreciations for standing committee who are doing a very good job irrespective of parties in building the nation in right direction be it AADHAAR project, 2g scam probe,CVC's appointment.It is one of the ambitious project of the UPA-2 and goverment should consider all the views before pushing the project forward any more as it is linked with a huge amount of people's money instead of pushing it back door.
from: Manjunath
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:19 IST Incredible! What a timely article! I thank The Hindu for sourcing such an important piece. As a citizen of India one would enjoy all the rights enshrined in the constituion. Right to privacy falls well under the ambit of fundamental rights. There were lot of rumours about the Aadhar project regarding its efficacy, safety and purpose. But the SCoF has now let the cat out of the bag, the common people should be sensitised of this for the government though elected by them does not possess the right to subdue their right to privacy. I have read a lot of negative stuff about Aadhar lately, but this hits the nail on the coffin, coming from the parliamentary body itself. UPA better take notice.
from: bharath
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:36 IST What about the thousands of crores already spent? No one is giving a clear reason why biometrics will fail. When you do iris scan, 10 fingers and facial recognition there is a very high probability of successful identification. There are definitely issues with this project but that is true of any large project. The standing committee should try for means to resolve these issues, not bring down the project for petty political gains and waste more of taxpayers money.
from: lal
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:44 IST If the views of general public who showed eagerness to enroll themselves for Aaadhaar is heard, we can hear a chorus of anger, disappointment and frustration.There are no simple and fool proof background infrastructure in place. Many senior citizens will tell how they have ben made to run from pillar to post even to get the enrolment form. To say to all of them that they can get it downloaded from the computers will be ridiculous. So much for the preliminaries.There are enough indications that despite the hype and fanfare, the projectv is a non starter and if the project is to be adamantly pursued, it will lead us to another chaotic situation.With the issuance of voters id card, there is afairly well established data base. Efforts should be made to weed out bogus cards and the additional inputs to make them unique can be a better option and less taxing to the public and will reduce wasteful expenditure.It will be in national interest to shelve the project to nip another scam in the bud.
from: Shekar
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:58 IST oh really it is a baseless project and it was only for UPA-II popularty and for making all foreigners indian citizen for their vote bank . who gave right to waste public money for such base less project and without the constitution permission. It is also a part of scam.
from: khemchand kumawat
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 10:58 IST Mr.Ramkumar's 'opinion' seems predetermined and exploiting the standing committee findings. His voice is like the mob frenzy who rant 'hang' 'burn'. I find it insensitive to educated minds who can decide for themselves. Before publishing an extreme view point, the paper should verify twice and even then hesitate to print strong views loaded with bias.
from: Sridhar
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:15 IST Kudos to the Representatives of SCoF for raising the Aadhaar Issue on time. The small office certified for issuing Aadhaar nearby our residence finds it diffuclt to handle the crowd waiting from early morning hours to get the application by noon. Appointments are given only after a few days for the collection of biometrics. An office goer is penalised of two days of his CL just to have have his identity registered. Calculate for the billions of office goers,the waste of his/her productive time. It is a national waste on productivity. To add, peoples apathy on Aadhaar is worsened by the frequent failures of the electronic gadgets in the issuing office, semi skilled or ignorant operators, high MTBF, poor service rates, absence of standby or replacement electronic gadgets and so on. It is less likely that Aadhaar can be successful in mighty populated countries like India where quality of technology management and service ae still under debate.
from: Narasimhan
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:17 IST Whether it is issue of voters identity card or collection of census data the approach of govt is always casual.There is no credibility in the data and every effort is made to make that system failure.The same thing is being done with adhar scheme also.Instead of suggesting improvement to the system instead of pointing to only lacunae is a typical Indian way of looking at the problem.to say it in tamil "potham pothuvile ethayavadhu sollittu poidaradhu" without thinking about the consequences.It will really be sad if and when adhar scheme is scrapped.
from: Natarajan
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:23 IST There should be a pause to look at the major objections to this project and the worthlessness of the objections. 1)Lack of authority - if there is a violation of the law , let a FIR or PIL be filed. 2)Huge amounts of money being wasted - Rs 170,000 crores of annual subsidy is being spent by the government with leakages over 50 percent.This is a one time investment of 20,000cr that can bring leakages to under 2 percent. 3)Cost benefit analysis - the cost benefit analysis of having an Indian government funded by tax payers money is about 15 percent according to Rajeev Gandhi. Let us get rid of this government. 4)The article has merely reported what someone else has said. There is no independent analysis of the observations of the Parliamentary Committee nor is there critical analysis on the Committee's observations. 5)Biometrics - Nobody has proved that fingerprints and iris scans taken together are a failure. If failure rate is 1%,so? 5)The NPR can be scrapped.Why Aadhar?
from: Saurabh Sharma
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:33 IST There was a report that Aadhaar is making a backdoor entry. It is sheer folly on the part of the oil marketing companies to start insisting on Aadhaar Card, when Parliament is yet to approve the scheme and foolproof method has not been made for the issue of the cards. More centres to be opened in every locality and the cards should be issued without any hassle. Now one has to run from pillar to post to locate a centre and if one reaches the Centre he is told to come some other day to collect the token for visiting for fingerprinting etc. The oil marketing companies will do well to wait and not jump the gun when Government and the UIDAI are still dithering. In the context of ScoF’s report, it is better the Aadhaar Project is shelved.
from: R.M.Murthy
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:45 IST No doubt "AADHAR"is a great initiative by the govt. Rather than castigating the project,the report of the SCoF must be taken in constructive manner and steps should be taken to ensure that all the points raised by SCoF committee are well studied and taken care of.
from: Vineet
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 11:54 IST Aadhar number is akin to the SSN number in the US. Most legal residents can register to get SSN number. However, illegal immigrants or those who donot qualify for getting social security can get an alternative ITIN number.These numbers provide a digital identity to residents and make it very easy to track-predominantly the financial transactions of a resident. I strongly feel that Indian citizens should have a 'digital identity' of their own. As our economy gallops,we need better ways to track, file and compile data about 1.2 billion people in this country. However, AADHAR should be designed in such a way that citizens, legal residents and illegal immigrants or those with questionable status in India get different patterns of this number.
from: Suresh Swaminathan
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:32 IST This excellent article brings to light yet another bungling of the UPA 2 government that is in utter disarray. The points raised by SCoF have been flouted by the government in an attitude of 'who are to question?'. It is hard to believe, that the government was not aware of the futility of such a project or the procedural lapses it has committed. The argument that executive could function with out legislation is frivolous, particularly related to a project that costs a whooping Rs.72000 crores and also poses potential threat to National security. The entire government is directionless and appears senile and insensitive to rationale. ‘Vinasa Kale Vibhareetha Buddhi' the Sanskrit adage is the most appropriate description of the attitude of the current UPA2 government.
from: M.R.Sampath
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:32 IST SCoF has done justice to Indians. Aadhar instead of strengthening security compromises not only security but also privacy. India must learn lessons from other countries's mistakes instead of committing the same mistakes.
from: Pyngs
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:38 IST I put myself in the position of a member of the corrupt politician-bureaucrat-businessman nexus and started thinking. It will be too bad if every one gets an identity. How can I take/give bribes if all transactions happen electronically? How can I divert funds meant for the poor? How can I stash money in foreign banks. How can I make money for my 5th generation? It will be too bad if the poor do not remain poor. The best way to get peace is to form a committee. Give it about 10 years to give a report. Take another 10 to deliberate on it and then shelve it. By then my grandson will be ready to play the same game all over again.
from: S. Srinivas
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:47 IST Aadhar is faulty. passport could be faked. ration card can be got by bribing. bank pass book can be got with the connivance of bank authorities. so status quo? All these are the defects in the system. You plug these loop-holes. in our country, most of the people are genuine Indians. Some of them are intruders. why don't you segregate the doubtful and issue Aadhar to the rest and settle the doubtful cases after proper scrutiny. even in the case of the intruders, they have intruded because they found our country better than the place from where they came. The govt. cannot effectively seal its borders. why blame the intruder. they may be given a temporary residency cards.or deport them. for those who are talking about privacy - man is a social animal. if he steps out of his house, then others should know who he is. then only others' safety is ensured. because of the absence of identity, criminals escape.how many have jumped bails? disappeared? So aadhar is a must to get rid of our ills.
from: Prof A Venki
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:59 IST I really wonder whether people that jump at making nasty comments even bother reading the argument. Mr. Saurabh Sharma should make attempts at countering the argument at an intellectual level rather than succumbing to bitter rambling.
1)Check the backlog of the judicial system and make judgments on the efficacy of taking that route. 2)What are these "wasted" subsidies? Elaborate a bit further please. Secondly, the claim that it will bring the leakages down to 2% is just that, a trumped up number without any logical reasoning - demagogic, if you will. 3)Poor source, poorer comment. 4)The writer has written prolifically in both the Hindu and Frontline magazine with independent analysis of it. 5)Read R.Ramakumar's argument again. 6)See no. 5.As for Mr. Sekhar, only if inter/extrapolating worked, everyone in India would be earning 50K a month.
from: Azad
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 12:59 IST This is regrettably, a very parochial opinion. I understand the right to bring forth reservations about certain issues of what could potentially be a landmark project in India. Why is it suggested that it is impossible to look for avenues to address the concerns put forth by the Parliamentary Committee? The writer seems to have shown a lot of exuberance in calling for the scheme to be revoked outright, which is inexplicable. It is said that the Aadhar numbers could fall into the wrong hands to fake identities. Though it is a palpable issue, it is not going to set any new precedent. Aren't passports, driving licenses & PAN cards faked and don't they continue to get faked? The writer mentions in the last paragraph that alternative and cheaper measures should be initiated to provide people with valid identity cards. I think we already have them. The Aadhar numbers would be a valid addition.
from: Balagopal P. Menon
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:14 IST Its difficult to find out whether its a critical analysis or a charter of agreement. Ramakumar has just reiterated what SCoF has mentioned. His own views comprise just that last one paragraph. Don't know Ramakumar's credentials and this short-sited, lop-sided piece of writing doesn't help. After reading Nilekani's book on India and his work with infosys, giving respect to this article is difficult (specially when it has no detailed analysis, no concrete examples and no convincing proofs). Expect much better from The hindu !!
from: kunal angrish
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:22 IST Sir, UPA is facing opposition for yet another good & useful project aimed at the poor & vulnerable. I think the main drawback of the whole project is the amount spent on taking iris scan & finger prints. I think the cost could be brought down drastically by embedded technology where a chip would be inserted in every one. The technology for this futuristic technology already exists. This technology is the future as this has been predicted even in the bible. 'It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.' (Revelation 13:16,17).
from: K Stephen Daniel
We Indians have the great ration card. Why then Aadhar digital? We Indians have swanky ration shops and efficient PDS. Why FDI in retail? Let's not accept anything creative but disown all ideas. Ramkumar seems to be in this mood and copies the report in toto. Any solutions to improve the scene is missing. ScoF report also unilateral. Plain Aadhar scoffing piece, this!
from: Bal
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:38 IST After investing so much money, time and effort ,scrapping the UID project is suicidal. The SCoF should have enunciated what was good and acceptable in the aadhaar scheme. If multiple agencies are pulling their weight in different directions the loser is the country .Scrapping an existing scheme and taking off on a new set up is very easy.If a built in mechanism for incremental corrections doesn't exist we will always be at the starting post. UID card is not critical for those with PAN cards and bank accounts but for those without an address temporary or permanent.If Mr.Nilekeni found the queries of SCoF to be an eye opener, it could mean he did not have many questioners in his team .Decentralised data collection via registrars is a good idea.But too many data fields are relevant only for a miniscule minority ,those who are bothered about data privacy. Can we do away with them ? Much should have been done before grounding the scheme.It is not too late if egos are set aside.
from: siva chander
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:45 IST This UID project is the worst thing for Indians in general. This is the first and gigantic step is losing privacy and once you get in, there is no way of getting out. Going by the track record of Indian government for the past 60 years, UID is as good as posting your private details in internet and depending on your luck that no one else will abuse that details.We are going down the path the US is, giving away personal freedom for (imaginary) security.
I think fight against UID is more important than fighting corruption, people should first understand the consequence of losing your privacy. Once you lost it you can never, NEVER get it back. Fight against corruption can wait.
I think fight against UID is more important than fighting corruption, people should first understand the consequence of losing your privacy. Once you lost it you can never, NEVER get it back. Fight against corruption can wait.
from: Techie
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 13:47 IST In our haste, we should not forget the fact that Aadhaar is a voluntary enrollment system. If a citizen feels the system is not secure enough to guarantee privacy they have a choice not to enroll. Most IT projects do have cost overruns but that does not mean they should not be attempted in the first place. One example of wasted subsidies is LPG connections. LPG cylinders obtained with bogus names are sold to restaurants and other businesses. Similar loopholes are exploited in tax evasion, ration cards and many more. If we have to do a true cost benefit analysis Aadhaar will win hands down, SCoF or otherwise.
from: Venkat
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 14:05 IST It is observations given by the ScoF. Please allow UIDAI to justify. Do not pass comments casually to a GAME changing project which will bring in LOT of accountability to the NEEDY people.
from: chethan
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 14:05 IST Nice Article. I mean the english used. Why are we making such a hue & cry on Aadhaar? Do you really know how much is spent on NPR (the one by Home Minister Chidambaram's ministry)? The answer is no. Everyone is saying that we accept something which is discussed only in Parliament and never comes out to the open. Why sideline aadhaar. Why dont' we have some patience instead. The country spends crores of money on Politicians security. We never cry? Why is that. We spent 20 Crores till date on the fugitive Kasab. If every fugitive is kept behind bars and we spend such money. That's not public waste. We don't cry. But when 75,000 crores is spent on every indian resident, we are crying. Why can't we leave this habit of accusing and accept something like Aadhaar. The main problem with Aadhaar is that it can be used against a politician anywhere within India. His accounts can be checked since Aadhaar number would get linked to his account. Let's say OK to Aadhaar...........
from: Sriram
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 14:14 IST Mr Azad, pl google total subsidies given by the Indian government as also read on this topic. This figure has its origins in this. As for the two percent figure it is based on the experience of computerizing manual systems. I have personally worked over the last three decades on this. Look at the corruption weeded out in the railway passenger system, the airline booking system and in private companies. Yes, I am becoming aware that Ramakumar is a favourite in the Hindu group - I do not think he has competence to write on this topic. Neither does he have personal experience in computerization of large scale systems nor is he an expert on biometrics. An associate professorship in TISS is a licence to teach at TISS and perhaps expertise on his subject viz social sciences but computerization?Biometrics?Pioneering systems implementation? If you see his article carefully he merely quoted everyone and has nothing of his own to say here. Can he propose a system for discussion?
from: Saurabh Sharma
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 14:36 IST UPA government run by Manmohan singh, Chidambaram,Sibal,Ahmed Patel doesn't have any respect for the Parlimentary process.Their hasty actions to bring legislations like Aadhar , FDI in retail, Splitting of Andhra etc or their inaction to bring effective lokpal bill for decades all prove this fact.They keep shouting at the roof top that Anna hazare and his team do not believe in parlimentary process, but on the ground it is these so called intellectual crap who don't give a damn to the parlimentary process.Any opposition to their thought process is termed as Pro-BJP and anti-secular.
from: valmiki
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 14:47 IST The Parliament's Standing Committee may have some opinion but the corporate IT sector's lobbyists have a different opinion. India is to be made a developed country by eradicating the painful poverty conditions in which its majority of women, children and men live -- a fancy showoff project which has so many flaws does not help.
from: Yashwanth P
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:00 IST The article and the esteemed comments gave me an interesting reading. This indeed reflects the true Indian way of thinking on any matter. Any program must be well thought by professionals and Expert groups before it is taken for implementation and UIDAI(Aadhar)is no exception. In India, unfortunately, we have no unanimity on any matter and hardly respect anyone. Dr.Manmohan Singh is a good economist PM even though he is politically a failure. Nandan Nilekani is a highly successful enterprenuer.He is not there to amass some money to his company but to strengthen the national interest. India has so far achieved limited success in Agri. revolution, White revolution & low grade success in industrial revolution but good success in population revolution. But for our awakening & thumping success in software revolution,the nation would have been alongside Somalia & Ethiopia. Is our democracy functioning perfectly? Our endeavour must be make the 'Aadhar' exercise succeed & erase defects later.
from: Vyas K Susarla
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:01 IST Clearly this article raises serious concerns but what my conscience says there must be some positive aspects of this scheme which author has not cited,may be he can write down another article giving the nother side as well and elaborating all consequences which India is facing due to absence of any reliable,authentic and integrated data set of 1.2 billion people.One can say after reading this piece of article that Govt. has not followed the necessary course of law making process and concerns of various stakeholders were not taken into considerations while implementing a huge project.But instead of such a scathing attack on the overall UID scheme,the author could have suggested appropriate means by which we can reach to any integrated mechanism.We know there are multiple schemes going on to address the same problem of "Unique Identity".We don't want only the criticism but the ways how we can really move forward collectively by integrating the existing schemes in a cost effective way.
from: Sumit
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:02 IST I find it interesting that Saurabhs, Sekhars and Sridhars etc are not happy with Ramakumar's article. It is not Rama Kumar's fault that the Standing Committee trashed Aadhaar. It is not the standing committees fault that the NIAI Bill was flawed and ill conceived. The Planning Ministry had no clear answers to questions Raised by the standing Committee. They had no answer for why a Feasibility study was not done and why a Cost benefit analysis was not furnished.
Ask yourself these questions: Had UIDAI been headed by say Ex Cabinet Minister Raja or by CWG Chief Suresh Kalmadi would you all criticise the Standing Committee and Rama Kumar ? Had NN remained CEO of Infosys and PM had given the Contract to Infosys, would you agree with the slipshod way NN has managed this Project ? The fault lies squarely with Nandan Nilekani for the way he mishandled the project from word Go. He refused to debate issues or answer questions raised and bulldozed his way. UID is so flawed it has to stop.
Ask yourself these questions: Had UIDAI been headed by say Ex Cabinet Minister Raja or by CWG Chief Suresh Kalmadi would you all criticise the Standing Committee and Rama Kumar ? Had NN remained CEO of Infosys and PM had given the Contract to Infosys, would you agree with the slipshod way NN has managed this Project ? The fault lies squarely with Nandan Nilekani for the way he mishandled the project from word Go. He refused to debate issues or answer questions raised and bulldozed his way. UID is so flawed it has to stop.
from: Ramrajah
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:14 IST The author does not propose any viable alternatives. The argument that nothing should be done unless it is perfect is the reason the nation is held back. Plug the loopholes and move on. Ramkumar attacks Aadhar as being part of Neo Liberal agenda. In most places, it would be attacked as being part of a nationalistic agenda. Even if the wastage of subsidies is brought down by less than hoped for, wouldn't it still be better than now? Aadhar or any alternative unique number could be used to reduce corruption drastically. No cost is too high if this is achievable.
from: Ajai
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:17 IST Biometrics as an id /auth factor is born from b grade movies. Biometrics, like any living system, suffers from all the normal processes of a living system. Consequently there is tremendous variability due to environment, health, age, profession etc, in ones biometrics. While there exists ample evidence of why biometrics cannot be used as a deduplicator, which the UIDAI convinently choose to ignore, it has been short shrifted by the UIDAI's own biometric's panel. The vetting of documents (demographic data) was discarded based on the presumption that biometrics is infallible. Having realised that even with it's horrendous margins of errors, de duplicating biometrics would take forever, the UIDAI trashed it's own assumptions and started issuing uins based on un vetted demographic data. The result 20 to 45% higher number of residents as per uins issued. A physical door to door survey (conducted by NPR) is unable to locate these extra persons. So much for Unique identity and all that jazz.
from: JT DeSouza
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:29 IST Its neck and neck till now. 16 for and 16 against.Mine is the final nail in the coffin. I am on the side of Vineet, Natarajan, Prof A Venki,Suresh Swaminathan, S Srinivas, Saurabh Sharma(2 times), Shekhar, Rajesh, Sridhar, Vijay, Mira Pawar, Santosh C, Lal, E Krishnadas, Siddharth...
from: Mukesh Kamath
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:29 IST Hope some of the comments (that are against this article) here will be published in the Letters to the Editor section of The Hindu. I for one, was almost completely gave up on UID after reading this article. Thanks for the comments posted against the article; let me wait and watch the fate of this project.
from: Ramachandran Rajagopalan
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:29 IST Our country will need technology to transform and it would require some visionary leaders and not doubting thomases. The role of legislators is critical and we need to pay heed to their questions and provide the necessary clarifications and also take safeguards as we proceed on a large transformational project as Aadhar. However I would request our learned legislators that they owe this project to the next generation of India and hence not call for scrapping it.
from: K.C.Ganesh
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:37 IST The aadhaar project may not be as of now fully foolproof. but certainly it would pave way for better and quicker distribution of government subsidy to the needy to whom it is meant for. Today the recurring leakage of huge subsidy amount through middlemen is much more than the cost estimate of the project. So we should not drop but keep the provision for step up improvement which can be upgraded over the period.
from: KUPPUSWAMY
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 15:38 IST We need CBI investigation on how this fradulent project called Aadhar was started. Who are the biometric experts who rode rough shod over their own biometric committee's report ? Just because someone has had success in outsourcing businesss does not qualify him to speak on these deep technology issues. The result is there for all to see. It takes Rs. 30/- worth of material to fool UIDAI's biometric scanner. So much for unique identity. And we dont even know if de-duplication is working; we will never know because the technology is properietory to some foreign company and they call it open. Open my foot. You analyse Aadhar and you will see lies and half-lies all over the place. Indeed, the SCoF needs to be applauded for giving a unique kick on the backside to this project meant to skim off thousands of crores in the name of the poor. I would certainly like to see some heads roll for this big fraud.
from: Samir Kelekar
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:10 IST
we are really being harvested dumb. people themselves are ASKING to be barcoded.. i cant believe it. for the first time i feel satisfied at the working ethics of scof. but what scof did not mention is that the data gathered for adhar is outsourced to and handled by CIA backed companies in the US. thanks to the the few left real beaurocrats who revealed this info. Great Work TheHindu. you are the only true newspaper for us left uncorrupted. i wish u come up in electronic media against the toi.
from: anand parv
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:17 IST
UID is one of the best systems India ever build for personal identification so far, can these people justify the fake passposrt cases, fake ration cards, fake banking accounts, fake residance proofs.
It looks like most of the politicians want India to be used and misuse individuals identity as much posible
Even if some add population gets enrolled even than its fine to trace that person and his movements and trascation more accurately. as UID doesn't provide a free mony/food/resource to any one to loot.
but think over another two years from now this data becomes most important for the banks/ration card/Visa/intrusion/registration/police/crimal investigations/ elections/Indurance etc fools want to keep India in dark when whole world is enjoing the benfit of it.
It looks like most of the politicians want India to be used and misuse individuals identity as much posible
Even if some add population gets enrolled even than its fine to trace that person and his movements and trascation more accurately. as UID doesn't provide a free mony/food/resource to any one to loot.
but think over another two years from now this data becomes most important for the banks/ration card/Visa/intrusion/registration/police/crimal investigations/ elections/Indurance etc fools want to keep India in dark when whole world is enjoing the benfit of it.
from: John
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:33 IST
Having a unique identity has many advantages.There may be loop holes in this AADHAR project.They should be discussed and solutions should be found out.I think this is the optimistic way rather than scrapping the project completely.
from: ranjith
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:46 IST
For any reason if the Aadhaar is stopped, the government should pay back
the cost incurred by people to en-roll in it. Myself along with family
members, spent a day to register us, if this is scrapped I would go to
court to seek compensation for time/expenditure.
the cost incurred by people to en-roll in it. Myself along with family
members, spent a day to register us, if this is scrapped I would go to
court to seek compensation for time/expenditure.
from: Ravi Ramireddy
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:46 IST
I am a common man. I don't know the finer details of the benefits or disadvantages of this project. But i know how things work in india. No matter what ever fool proof system you have, if you have enough money, you can bend any system. Many of the commentors have written in favour of AAdhar and they have questioned the competency of this Author. But what is disappointing is they have not replied to the questions raised in this article. It doesn't matter whether the author analysed independently or he included the questions from SCoF, but they are valid questions which must be answered. Especially if the questions regarding the estimated costs of 72,000 crore and realisation of project objective due to uncertainity in biometric accuracy aren't answered, then this project must be scrapped. Again i came to know about the SCoF questions through this article, so it doesn't matter whether the author analysed independently or not. As a common man, i want responsible answers to these questions
from: vijayanand
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 16:56 IST
The concept behind the Aadhaar project is the need of the hour. Because we are a vast country with millions of poor, illiterate people, our problems do get compounded. But in this article, the author should have tried to portray a more balanced view. Any project of this magnitude will raise concerns, but the solution is not to dump the project, but to try to address the genuine concerns.
It has been mentioned that there are alternatives, but are they perfect? We need to keep in kind, perfection is not ready made... we evolve and slowly but surely, we can fix all loopholes. Only, we need toapproach this with an open mind.
from: Subramanian
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 17:10 IST
Hon. P M of India and planning commission of India are quite optimistic about all reforms whether it is UIDAI or FDI but its our perspective to look at it.
Although AADHAR project did not mention prior advantages on existing identity sysytem, it would have higher technological implications & lacuneas but only on such ground project could not be rejected. Although developed countries like U K had failed to implement wont assure it will fail definately in India.
Offcourse technology may rise cost of project but here it is exagerrated. Though it is not nationwide implementable for all reason purposed by Nilekani( NREGA worker enumeration, PDS leakage) but would have better utility for other reasons like health card etc.
audit & strong monitoring is essential to maintain finance & national data base.
audit & strong monitoring is essential to maintain finance & national data base.
from: nilesh patil
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 17:24 IST
In my layman perspective and understanding of the Aadhaar project,let me put it in a simple way, I have more faith and trust in the vision,
abilities and goodwill of Nandan Nilekani for the well being of common
man than that of those out of touch and mostly corrupt MPs sitting in
our Parliament and its various Standing Committees.
abilities and goodwill of Nandan Nilekani for the well being of common
man than that of those out of touch and mostly corrupt MPs sitting in
our Parliament and its various Standing Committees.
from: Kevin Fernandes
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 17:41 IST
The nation has been fooled into believing that Aadhaar is a magic bullet that will fix leakages in PDS and NREGA and other GoI subsidies estimated as about Rs 300,000 Crores.
When we say leakages in PDS we are talking about poor people double
dipping, rich people drawing rations and theft in the distribution system.
dipping, rich people drawing rations and theft in the distribution system.
By finger printing poor people, we are treating every one who is poor as a criminal. When did poverty become a Crime ? What if a poor woman cheats and buys double the quota of 35 kilos of grains per month to feed starving children. Which is a bigger theft, buying an extra 35 kilos at subsidised rates or UIDAI splurging thousands of crores just to enrol the entire nation. Does this make sense ? Not to me.
Every one forgets that the nation was told that it would cost Rs 35 per person to enroll and we now know that it costs Rs 400 or more per person for enrolment. How much is Rs 400 x 1.2 Billion ?
Authentication has not even included here. This is the truth
from: Ram
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 17:47 IST
So many here question why Rama Kumar does not offer solutions to the
problem.Why should he ? It is like asking Nato forces and rebels to teach Gadafis troops how to fight better..
problem.Why should he ? It is like asking Nato forces and rebels to teach Gadafis troops how to fight better..
To the person who mentioned having read Imagining India and believes NN is a visionary... Yes that was the aim to market the idea through a book and then leverage the book to mesmerise the nation.
Just like UID there is nothing Unique about Imagining India. UID in fact is an Idea in Conflict.
Here is what NN wrote in his Book Imagining India on Page 50: “In Terms of Implementing Policies that are good for you, whether you like it or not, autocratic regimes are far better than democracies” (Page 50, Imagining India). We have seen how autocratic he has been as UIDAI Chief. Had he been humble and paid attention to his critics, he could have salvaged this project . Unfortunately ego came in the way.
It had to be his way or Highway....
Many UIDAI experts have abandoned ship and makes you wonder why ?
from: Ram
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 18:39 IST
an excellently writen article. objections by SCoF r vital & have far
reachng conseqnces. sily denials & 1/2hearted defnds dat appear in
comments suporting UID brngs forth lack of public awareness. Social
Security Number (SSN) of US is not at al an "Aadhaar like thing". SSN
does not store biometrics or any other sensitive details. it just
relates to name of a person.
reachng conseqnces. sily denials & 1/2hearted defnds dat appear in
comments suporting UID brngs forth lack of public awareness. Social
Security Number (SSN) of US is not at al an "Aadhaar like thing". SSN
does not store biometrics or any other sensitive details. it just
relates to name of a person.
cost of project by some estimates could b as high as 1,50,000 crores.
real cost could be even higher for as London School of Economics
report on UK ID showed cost of the project would escalate for sure.
real cost could be even higher for as London School of Economics
report on UK ID showed cost of the project would escalate for sure.
No Other Alterntive argment canot b a justificatn 4 the wastage of
public money without 4prior launch study, cost-benefit analysis,
comparitive study & enabling law. evn a deatiled project report ws
prepared in april 2011 only (2 yrs aftr it took off) the SCoF has
pointd alternatves like isuing secure ration cards, say wit hologrm.
public money without 4prior launch study, cost-benefit analysis,
comparitive study & enabling law. evn a deatiled project report ws
prepared in april 2011 only (2 yrs aftr it took off) the SCoF has
pointd alternatves like isuing secure ration cards, say wit hologrm.
Biometrics is abandned by d US,UK,China n al devlopd democracies &
institutionsNIST, LSE,NPL
institutionsNIST, LSE,NPL
from: Jijeesh PB
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 19:21 IST
JT Desouza and Ramkumar, the author, should give us technical evidence of what is the failure rate of the biometrics and biometrics combination that the UIDAI is using. If it is ten percent of our population that has duplicates, then this project is worth reconsidering. Of course some may plump for even 1%. What is acceptable and non-acceptable? I would plump for less than one percent as being acceptable and I have an engineering background.Social scientists,your take?
One must remember that it is impossible for the fingerprint, the eyescan and the photo ALL to match in 2 persons. If indeed this can be made to match , the effort that is required would only be worthy of a criminal. ALL systems attract criminals and collusion. We cannot deny a system because criminals will succeed.
The NPR has not even started work Mr Desouza - it is in the fitness of things that the 1m/day Aadhar do its work ,that is half the work of NPR.If required NPR can tag these residents as citizens or not.
One must remember that it is impossible for the fingerprint, the eyescan and the photo ALL to match in 2 persons. If indeed this can be made to match , the effort that is required would only be worthy of a criminal. ALL systems attract criminals and collusion. We cannot deny a system because criminals will succeed.
The NPR has not even started work Mr Desouza - it is in the fitness of things that the 1m/day Aadhar do its work ,that is half the work of NPR.If required NPR can tag these residents as citizens or not.
from: Saurabh Sharma
Posted on: Dec 16, 2011 at 19:29 IST
biometrics is a technology abandoned by the world. US, UK, Australia, Japan, philipines, holland & china avoided it. Top ten B schools in d world abandoned biometric ID project.national Institutes of Standards & technology and National Research Council of US, men frm National Physical Laboratary of UK, London School of Economics n London school of business say biometrics is iherently fallible, faulty n does not suit any government applications.
National strategy for trusted IDs in cyber space does not mention biometrics at all. So is UKs digital identity assurance project. There are incidents of men imprisoned on the basis of biometric evidence (fingerprints) freed later.
Finger prints can be faked under a $. iris scan was droped from UK ID project after they found it unreliable under varying lighting conditions.
Even UIDAI is not usng facial recognition system for verification for its very faulty. If biometric numbering was a elixir, Pakistan wld hav been d best place in d world. it has a similar numbering project from 1960s.
from: Jijeesh PB
