Published: Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012, 8:00 IST
By Manan Kumar | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
The next cabinet meet on the unique identity project will have to deal with the Planning Commission’s note emphasising on extending the mandate of Nandan Nilekani’s Unique identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to use multi-registrars, including the National Population Register (NPR) under the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RG&CCI), for collecting biometric data of residents of India.
The recommendations have made the ministry of home affairs (MHA), the nodal ministry for the NPR project, jittery. It believes the Planning Commission’s proposal, if approved, will not only add to the security concerns because of unreliability of data but also be a non-starter in many ways as it will be accessible only online. The future of the NPR depends on the cabinet decision.
Montek Singh Ahluwalia (pictured) is deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.
The MHA is ready to propose to the cabinet to increase the scope of the NPR — to give resident identity smart cards (RIC) to each resident of the country above 18 years of age. It would cost Rs6,000 more to the NPR project that is limited to collection and storage of electronic data of all usual residents above 18 years of age along with their Aadhaar number.
Government sources told DNA that the cabinet note moved by the Planning Commission enlists four options — collection of biometric only by the UIDAI, by RG&CCI through NPR, by both RG&CCI and UIDAI and collection of biometrics (photograph of the face, impressions of 10 fingers and Iris scan) by the UIDAI with the help of multiple registrars, including NPR. The commission is in favour of the last method.
The fresh cabinet note has made many in the government, including the MHA, anxious. They feel the UIDAI is bulldozing the government as the project’s initial purpose was limited to giving a unique identity number to each resident. It has, however, yet to get a full legal mandate through an act of Parliament. They are also concerned about the unreliability of the biometric data that is being procured by multiple agencies without any accountability system in place.
The NPR data is being collected through a well thought out method - from a cluster of 125 households from village and mohalla levels to sub-town (tehsil) levels as well as from the district, state and Centre - by government officials who are accountable at every step. Enabled legally, they double check the data by visiting each household again. Authenticated signed lists are then put up for objections.
“The UIDAI, on the other hand, is collecting data through sundry agencies by setting up camps everywhere. Who will be blamed if the data is wrong or is fed in the wrong person’s name as some sting operations have shown? And what if some person working in one of the many agencies leaks the biographic data of a sensitive location to inimical forces? Where are the checks and balances?” a source asked.
The other objection is how the UID number fed into servers with biometric data for online use will benefit people in places that do not have internet and tele-connectivity.
As part of the NPR project, residents are being given RIC that have the necessary 15 fields of information along with his or her photo, biometric data and the unique identity number embedded in a 64kb microprocessor chip that would be destroyed if tampered with.
“The RIC can be checked anywhere by hand-held machines to establish the identity of a person. Is the online UID system handy for a MNREGA labourer working in a remote area or to security personnel who wish to establish the identity of a suspect in some jungle? The cabinet should ponder about the reliability of biometric data collection under both the NPR and the UIDAI before taking a decision. Does it want a quick job or a complete, dependable and legally sound job for almost an equal amount of money?” an official asked.
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
