Swaraj Thapa : New Delhi, Fri Jan 20 2012, 01:16 hrs
Expressing concern over the controversy on collection of biometric data under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) scheme, union Home Minister P Chidambaram has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to bring the issue to the cabinet “immediately” so that differences could be sorted out.
In a letter to the the Prime Minister today, Chidambaram wrote: “I request that you may kindly instruct the Planning Commission to immediately bring a note to the cabinet and the cabinet secretariat to list the note before the cabinet so that a final decision can be taken in the matter.”
He added: “In my respectful submission, it would not be in the interest of the government to allow the controversy to be played out in the media.”
At the heart of the controversy is the collection of biometric data of all residents. The home ministry has maintained that the Registrar General of India (RGI) — which it controls — has been tasked to collect biometric data through the National Population Register. However, the UIDAI, headed by Nandan Nilekani, which has also been authorised to collect biometric data, has collected information from upto 200 million residents and has been seeking an extension of its mandate.
The home minister said he was in constant touch with the Planning Commission — the nodal department handling the UIDAI — and its deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia. “Since there is no clarity on who will capture the biometric data — the RGI or the UIDAI — a few months ago, I had requested the Planning Commission to bring a paper to the cabinet or the appropriate cabinet committee and obtain a decision in the matter. I had also spoken to the deputy chairperson several times,” he said.
Chidambaram wrote: “I think it is important that there is clarity on the issue so that the work of capturing biometrics can go forward. Hence the need for an early decision.”
Chidambaram drew the PM’s attention to what he called “some inspired stories” in the media “painting the MHA black and presenting distorted facts”. He included extracts of one from The Economist.
That report claims: “The real difficulties (in the implementation of the UIDAI scheme) are political. They fall into two areas. Most immediate is home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who is blocking the new mandate. He says he is worried about national security. He also looks annoyed that a rival biometric scheme to build a National Population Register (for citizens, not just residents) has been cast into the shade. Run by his home ministry, by late last year it had only issued some eight million identity numbers. He also has a longstanding rivalry with the finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, who is associated with (UIDAI).”