DIVERSION AHEAD
- Aadhar is being consumed by turf wars
Commentarao: S.L. Rao
Mission unaccomplished
The Indian bureaucracy and political class have repeatedly put roadblocks in the way of important changes because they impinge on their perceived turfs. A glaring example is the home ministry’s objections to the unique identification number project initiated by the Planning Commission. The rejection by the parliamentary standing committee, led by Yashwant Sinha, on superficial reasons is clearly political.
The public distribution system has always had economists, honest administrators and politicians clamour for avoiding physical procurement, handling, storage, transportation and distribution of rationed goods while identifying recipients for ration cards. The corruption in the Food Corporation of India and other procurement agencies, inadequate and sometimes poor storage, bogus ration cards, callous and thieving retailers and inspectors together ensure that at least half the intended grains do not reach the beneficiaries. The United Progressive Alliance government has introduced other entitlement schemes, including the rural employment guarantee scheme. These schemes have also benefited corrupt bureaucrats and politicians, who have stolen a substantial part of the allotted funds. What has reached the poor has made a big difference to millions of lives.
Alternatives to physical procurement and distribution include cash transfers. Another is to transfer the other subsidies (as that on fertilizers) to bank accounts. Cash transfers can be misused, and there are not enough bank branches and bank accounts. People who move in search of gainful employment, and many of the poor and illiterate, are unable to prove their identity. For them, getting a ration card, a job card, opening a bank account, and other such entitlements demand a way of proving identities.
The unique identification number was an innovative idea to deal with the problem. Every resident of India would have a UID number, backed by irrefutable biometric proof of unique identity — all ten fingerprints, eye scans, and other information. This information would be stored in a central processor and retrieved from anywhere to establish identity. Other documents like ration card, job card, bank account, driving licence, passport and so on would be linked to this unique identity, not retrievable from the UID. A UID number can in no way compromise privacy.
The complexity of India, poverty and illiteracy, especially of those who have no proof of their identity and so lose many benefits, have not stopped the Unique Identification Authority of India from enrolling residents, set to reach 400 million in two years. A UID number ensures that only an existing resident will get a ration card, can apply for a driving licence, open a bank account in his name, deposit payments under the employment guarantee scheme in his account, apply for a passport, and do many things which presently require him to give proof of identity, such as a telephone bill, certification by a gazetted officer of government and so on. With a UID number, he only has to give this number and a quick check will confirm whether it is indeed he who has come to apply. A UID number is not proof of citizenship. It might be the starting point to establish that the person is who he says he is. However, he will have to go through all the other usual checks before his citizenship is or is not confirmed. The UID number will help significantly to reduce bribery and corruption in getting these proofs.
The parliamentary standing committee on the bill to create a national identification authority has damned the project. The objections are superficial but have held up the legislation to create the authority. The objections are that there was no feasibility study of the project, that it was approved in haste, that despite its far-reaching consequences for national security, it has no security protection, that there is no clarity of purpose, that it uses unreliable and untested technology, and that there is no coordination between the different sections of the government.
These objections could have been dismissed had they not come from such an august body. The UIDAI has already enrolled millions and hence its feasibility cannot be in doubt. Indian politicians and bureaucrats have their own perceptions of speed in the government and the accusation of hasty approval should, in fact, be praised as an example of quick decision-making and speed in execution by the government. The implications that the listing of all residents will have for national security can only be positive since everyone can now be identified. The purpose of the UID project is clear enough from what has been said earlier. It has pioneered in technology use from many sources, getting them to work in a coordinated fashion, and provides a model for what good management and leadership can achieve even in the public sphere. Coordination between the government departments is an ongoing effort. The objections appear to be politically motivated.
The objections of the home ministry that the UID project duplicates the national population register and does not do it well are serious because they can stop the project. The NPR is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the registrar-general and census commissioner of India, ministry of home affairs. Its objectives are almost identical to those of the UID except that it is compulsory, and not voluntary, as in the case of the UID, and is intended to lead to a national register of Indian citizens.
The government of India has initiated the creation of this database by collecting specific information about all usual residents in the country during the house-listing and housing census phase of Census 2011. Information about the usual residents (aged five and above) of 17 states and two Union territories will now be digitized, and biometric data will be collected from these residents for further integration. It is compulsory for every citizen to register in the national register of Indian citizens. The creation of the NPR will lead to the preparation of the national register of Indian citizens.
The UID data can be used for the NPR. The major issue is that it is the ministry that will control the data collection. The UIDAI, under the Planning Commission, has been speedy, innovative and is led by result-oriented bureaucrats and specialists. The NPR is under the home ministry, and despite many years on the drawing board, is yet to make much progress. It is under non-specialist bureaucrats. The interests of the country, the aim of reaching social benefits to the maximum number and reducing bureaucratic theft of such benefits, demand that the UID complete its job in the time-frame it has set. Which ministry must control the effort is just a battle for turf. The data must be used by those who need it.
The author is former director general, National Council for Applied Economic Researc
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
