M RAJSHEKHAR & VIKAS DHOOT, ET Bureau Jan 25, 2012, 04.48AM IST
NEW DELHI: The government's indecision on which of its two arms should capture the biometrics of all 1.2 billion Indians is causing collateral damage. Frustrated by the issue not being resolved quickly and difficulties in the business, Wipro, one of the largest enrolment agencies empanelled with the Unique Identification Authority of India, is considering quitting the business.
"We will take a final decision based on the Cabinet meeting," a senior Wipro official involved in the project told ET on the condition of anonymity. The Cabinet committee on UIDAI is meeting on Wednesday to decide who should capture biometrics from here on - the UIDAI, the National Population Registry (NPR), which comes under the home ministry, or both.
The 174 enrolment agencies empanelled with the UIDAI will watch keenly. They are grappling with a tough business, made tougher by the lower enrolment numbers resulting from the indecision. The project to provide unique identity numbers called Aadhaar was launched in 2009. It was decided the NPR would collect biometrics and the UIDAI would issue Aadhaar card.
The UIDAI organised itself quicker than the NPR, and received a nod from the government in July 2010 to collect 100 million biometrics, which was increased to 200 million in November 2010. In May 2011, UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani asked the government to let it capture all 1.2 billion biometrics. Even as a decision on this is pending, the home ministry and a Parliamentary panel have pointed out flaws in the UIDAI's working.
As the UIDAI nears its mandated 200 million mark, and with no direction from the government on the remainder, it has started asking central enrolment agencies to stop work. Wipro received a letter from the UIDAI in December. Earlier this month, the Karnataka government too asked Wipro to stop enrolments by February 10.
The UIDAI had set a target of 14 million enrolments for the state. "The state has already hit 13 million," says the Wipro official. "If it crosses 14 million, it will have to pay out of its own pocket." Most players assumed UIDAI's mandate would be extended to all 1.2 billion. "It was an assumption made by 70-80 % of companies rushing into this space," says Rajiv Aggarwal, CEO (egovernance ), Spanco, which sets up citizen service centres in rural India. The arithmetic of UIDAI-empanelled agencies has gone awry.
According to the Wipro official, the company has about 3,000 biometric kits - fingerprint and iris scanners and a laptop - costing Rs 1-1 .5 lakh each, adding up to about Rs 30 crore. It planned to recover this investment, and its operational costs, by doing 50-70 enrolments per machine per day. "That investment has gone bad," says the official.
A lot of the other enrolment agencies empanelled with the UIDAI - ranging from small outfits with 10-odd kits to larger players like Karvy with 1,000 kits or more - have been blindsided by the standoff between NPR and UID. Several UIDAI-registered agencies were already struggling. "This is a low cost, but high fatigue model," says Satish Bansal, co-founder of Calance, a company that handles biometric enrolments for banking-correspondent companies. While the UIDAI pays Rs 50 per enrolment , state governments have lowered rates further, pocketing the difference.
Fewer people have walked into enrolment centres than anticipated, delaying break even. Desperate to recover their investments , some agencies have bid for NPR tenders, whose terms are more stringent than those of the UIDAI. For instance , the UIDAI paid enrolment agencies only when a unique number was issued. It also did not demarcate territory for each enrolment agency, thinking that multiple firms operating in an area would speed up coverage. The NPR's approach is different. One, it is assigning zones to enrolment agencies , and expects them to ensure 100% coverage.
If not, it will deduct 50% of the payment due. Two, it wants all work completed in 12 months. Three, it will pay in five installments and subject to certain conditions. Four, for every 100,000 population, companies have to deposit Rs 80,000. Enrolment agencies are unhappy about 100% enrolment clause. Says the head of a small Delhi-based enrolment agency that worked for banking-correspondent companies: "No one can do 100% enrolment. There is migration."
Adds the head of another small Delhibased enrolment agency bidding for the NPR. "NPR is a loss-making proposition . I am writing off 30% at the outset ." All this is why the enrolment agencies are anxiously awaiting a Cabinet committee decision. A definitive decision won't be easy. Allowing UIDAI to collect all biometrics does not address the home ministry's security concerns.
Sticking to the original plan of NPR capturing all biometrics has become difficult, with the UIDAI throwing its weight behind its enrolment agencies. And allowing both NPR and UIDAI to collect biometrics will result in duplicate expenditure. The UIDAI seems confident. On January 19, it invited bids for "training operators and supervisors involved in undertaking enrolments" . The last date for the tender: February 13.
Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.
Aadhaar
The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018
When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi
“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi
“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.
Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.
Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha
“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh
But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP
“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.
August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"
“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden
In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.
Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.
Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.
UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy
1) Denial
2) Issue fiats and point finger
3) Shoot messenger
4) Bury head in sand.
God Save India
