Nitin SethiNitin Sethi, TNN | Feb 6, 2012, 04.00AM IST
NEW DELHI: Nandan Nilekani's UID or Aadhar has been snubbed again, this time by the food and public distribution ministry. The ministry has ignored the Nilekani task force report making UID central to information technology reforms in the public distribution system and has instead proposed its own system through the National Informatics Centre.
A task force chaired by Nilekani had been set up by the group of ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee to lay out the technology reforms required in delivering subsidies directly under the PDS. The task force, which included the food secretary, recommended that Aadhar cards be made central to such reforms and a separate dedicated professional IT unit be set up called the Public Distribution System Network (PDSN), which would operate as a technology back-office and central system.
Completely ignoring the task force report submitted by Nilekani in October last year, the food and public distribution ministry has instead framed detailed guidelines for computerization that is based on a platform developed by the National Informatics Centre called the PDS Common Services Platform.
Computerisation has so far progressed in some states to varying degree with each state using its own software and systems. The largest challenge remains to integrate these in a way so that information flows all the way to the Centre in a standardized format.
The Nilekani task force had suggested that the PDSN would work along the lines of a similar body being set up with the approval of the finance ministry for the Goods and Services Tax. The network, created to assimilate the existing efforts of the states under it and the state level NIC offices, will also get locked in.
But the food ministry has decided otherwise. It has already created an empowered committee under the food secretary which does not even include the UIDAI in the panel which is to provide the overall guidance for computerisation of PDS. A central project team has also been set up to manage the details. The food ministry stepped up on the gas to do so after the Supreme Court appointed Justice Wadhwa committee submitted its own report on the issue.
The ministry has suggested that the PDS application should be provided at the state level to NIC offices and they be permitted to customise it on a decentralised basis.
The Nilekani report had noted, "The department of food and public distribution had suggested that the proposed PDSN may perform the role of the 'separate and dedicated institutional mechanism' to be incorporated as per the orders of the Hon'ble Supreme Court."
But it had also noted, "An IT strategy is much more than just developing common software. It requires an institutional mechanism to undertake the complex task of conceptualizing, developing and maintaining the IT systems on a continuous basis."
NIlekani's recommendations, which have now been put in cold storage, were built along the lines of the suggestion from the finance minister's group.
The finance minister had set up a Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects which had recommended setting up National Information Utilities (NIUs) to handle complex multilevel issues of e-governance. The PSDN was recommended by the Nilekani task force along these lines.
The PSDN was recommended to be made up of professionals from outside the government as well with the independence to manage day to day affairs on its own though the overall strategic control over the entity was to remain firmly with the government.
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
