THURSDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2011 23:12 NIMAI CHARAN SWAIN | BHUBANESWAR
This refers to the editorial, “Spike the UID project” (December 9). It is really a monumental blunder on the part of the Government to have initiated the UID project without getting an approval from Parliament or waiting for the report of the parliamentary panel that was studying the UID Bill.
It is a fact that by virtue of mere residential proof one cannot secure citizenship.
There was no urgency to introduce the project at the cost of more than Rs 17,000 crore, at a time when India is reeling under an economic crisis.
If the Prime Minister thought it was that urgent, he should have introduced it in the North-eastern States to detect illegal migrants in the region. The arrival of large number of immigrants is a matter of national concern. It has assumed the shape of a major crisis.
But the Union Government, to protect its vote-bank, has been toying with the idea of legalising their stay and converting them into Indian citizens.
Moreover, the National Population Register is already engaged in the task of the identification of citizens, and it is doing so at much lower costs. Then, why is there a need to have the UID project managed by a separate organisation that is a burden on the tax-payer?
In any case, the UID is not going to decide on the issue of citizenship. It will simply record the names and other details of every person who resides in the country. Many of them are foreigners.
It is being said that the UID number will help other agencies in targeting the beneficiaries of various Government schemes.
How will that happen, when even non-Indians will carry the UID number? From all accounts, it appears that the UID project was launched without proper homework by the authorities concerned.
Having already spent several hundreds of crores, the project may now come to a standstill. The Union Government is solely responsible for this misadventure and must be held accountable for the fiasco.