3183 - EC says no ban on Aadhaar registration

EC says no ban on Aadhaar registration

Rohith B R, Bangalore, Mar 28, 2013, DHNS:

The Chief Electoral Officer on Thursday clarified that there was no bar on Aadhaar registration after his earlier directives led to confusion and stalled the process through the day. The officer, however, asked elected representatives, corporators and politicians to keep off the process.

The Chief Electoral Officer had on Wednesday imposed certain restrictions on Aadhaar enrolment in the State, triggering confusion among the officials and people alike. Several applicants who went to the registration centres on Thursday were turned away since the enrolment officers lacked clarity on the issue.
  
A senior official at the Chief Electoral Officer’s office said corporators and politicians in some areas tried to gain mileage ahead of the Assembly elections by deploying their men to distribute application forms and help applicants obtain necessary documents for the enrolment. “With the election code of conduct in place, politicians cannot gain mileage out of a government programme,” he said.

Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told Deccan Herald that there cannot be a blanket ban since the registration process was part of an ongoing scheme of the Central government. “We want to ensure that the programme continues without political interference,” he said. 

The guidelines issued on Wednesday stated that for the ongoing schemes where beneficiaries needed to be selected, no new selections would be made during the period when the model code of conduct was in place. Collecting applications or sanctioning fresh cases under various development corporations of the State government is completely prohibited during this period. This created confusion at the Aadhar enrolment centres.

The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) regional office on Race Course Road was flooded with calls seeking clarity on the issue. However, it took a lot of time for the UIDAI and the State e-governance officials to decode the guidelines.

Padma S, a resident of Mallathahalli in the Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituency, said: “I went in the afternoon to enrol along with my son at the centre located near my house. I was asked to come back after four days.” Veerendra, who went for enrolment in Koramangala along with his family, said: “Officials were not sure about how to go about and they asked us to come the next day.”

Flip-flop

-People were turned away at registration centres
- Officials had no clarity on the directives
-Elected representatives told not to meddle with the registration for electoral gains

3182 - Banks to get Aadhaar data

Banks to get Aadhaar data

TNN | Mar 27, 2013, 07.02 AM IST

HYDERABAD: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is creating software that will interface between banks and the Aadhaar portal so that banks can directly access Aadhaar details.

This will come as a boost to LPG consumers, who will then not have to furnish Aadhaar details to banks. LPG consumers in the districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Anantapur, Chittoor and East Godavari have been asked to provide Aadhaar details to gas agencies as well as banks where they have accounts so that the subsidy could be transferred into these accounts.

So far, 40% of the consumers have provided the details to gas agencies, while 15% have provided the details to banks.

The UIDAI has just completed work on a remote platform, using which any bank employee authorized by UIDAI can access the Aadhaar data and attach the numbers of the customers' accounts.

UIDAI in the state just completed the working on Aadhar ceding remote platform which will soon be handed over to banks. Using this platform any authorized person by UIDAI from banks can access the Aadhaar data and attach the numbers to the customers' accounts. "This platform will immediately match details provided by the consumer to Aadhaar authorities and to the bank," said UIDAI deputy chairman M V S Ramireddy. It is finalizing the modalities to make the platform, which will soon be handed over to banks.

UIDAI has already shared the Aadhaar data with the IT department for verification in Mee Seva centres and the same data will be shared with banks. Officials requested consumers to fill in their bank account data in the Aadhaar enrolment form, though it is not mandatory, as this will help bankers.

Officials said that there will be no bridge bank to do the subsidy routing in the state. Instead the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) will directly send the subsidy to the respective banks.

3181 - UIDAI developing software to link Aadhar with banks

UIDAI developing software to link Aadhar with banks

Elets News Network (ENN) | March 28, 2013 

Also view articles in: Aadhaar,Banks,News

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is creating software that will interface between banks and the Aadhaar portal so that banks can directly access Aadhaar details.This will lead to vast improvements in the subsidy systems that are currently in place.

UIDAI deputy chairman M V S Remireddy, in Hyderabad, informed that this platform will immediately match details provided by the consumer to Aadhaar authorities and to the bank.

This will come as a boost to LPG consumers, who will then not have to furnish Aadhaar details to banks. LPG consumers in the districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Anantapur, Chittoor and East Godavari have been asked to provide Aadhaar details to gas agencies as well as banks where they have accounts so that the subsidy could be transferred into these accounts.

So far, 40 percent of the consumers have provided the details to gas agencies, while 15 percent have provided the details to banks.

The UIDAI has just completed work on a remote platform, using which any bank employee authorized by UIDAI can access the Aadhaar data and attach the numbers of the customers’ accounts.

In Andhra Pradesh, UIDAI has just completed the working on Aadhar ceding remote platform which will soon be handed over to banks. Using this platform any authorized person by UIDAI from banks can access the Aadhaar data and attach the numbers to the customers’ accounts. “This platform will immediately match details provided by the consumer to Aadhaar authorities and to the bank,” said UIDAI deputy chairman M V S Ramireddy. It is finalizing the modalities to make the platform, which will soon be handed over to banks.

UIDAI has already shared the Aadhaar data with the IT department for verification in Mee Seva centres and the same data will be shared with banks. Officials requested consumers to fill in their bank account data in the Aadhaar enrolment form, though it is not mandatory, as this will help bankers.

There will be no bridge bank to do the subsidy routing in the state. Instead the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) will directly send the subsidy to the respective banks.

3180 - Aadhaar For Birth, Marriage And Death

Aadhaar For Birth, Marriage And Death

By S.G.Vombatkere

25 March, 2013

Countercurrents.org

Extant law makes it mandatory for every citizen to formally register births, marriages and deaths in the family. A birth certificate is proof of age and a death certificate is proof that a person has died and, for example, his/her name is to be deleted from a Voter's List. A marriage certificate shows that a man and a woman are legally married, their living together is socially acceptable and their progeny are legitimate. The civic body recording these events issues birth, marriage and death certificates, which are legal, primary civic documents concerning biological persons for identity, legal liability and inheritance, besides other legal, social and welfare purposes.

Government of Delhi (GoD) has very recently announced [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/uid-number-aadhar-scheme-identification-crisis/1/259075.html "With 95 per cent registrations in order, Delhi to soon switch to UID numbers for utility services”] that “[f]rom paying bills to getting a driving licence, Delhiites will soon have to depend on a unique identification (UID) number to avail a host of utility services”. The Chandigarh UT administration had made the UID-Aadhaar number mandatory for registration of motor vehicles and for obtaining driving licences. The order was challenged in the Punjab & Haryana High Court, and was withdrawn. GoD now passing a similar order in ignorance of the Chandigarh case, will result in coercing citizens to enroll for the Aadhaar number or to engage in unnecessary litigation. Demanding an Aadhaar number for transactions (paying bills, driving licence, etc) where the citizen is paying for the service rendered with no loss to the state, is without logical or legal strength – it appears to be a crude ploy to force people into enrolling for UID-Aadhaar.

Administrations appear to be ignorant of the basis of civic documentation, because they are even making the UID-Aadhaar number mandatory for citizens to obtain basic civic documents like birth, marriage and death certificates, as GoD has done. How would a birth certificate be issued in respect of an infant whose parents do not have Aadhaar numbers? How would the death certificate be issued in respect of a person whose death is reported by his progeny if the deceased or his progeny do not have an Aadhaar number? There are other questions, but suffice it to say that birth, marriage and death are the most fundamental events for biological persons, and when responsibly reported to civic authorities as mandated by law, the civic authorities are duty bound to unconditionally register these events. Possession of certificates recording these events are the right of every citizen.

If issue of birth and death certificates are made subject to UID-Aadhaar, it is entirely possible that numbers of people may be demographically excluded because they were not able to obtain those certificates for want of the Aadhaar number. To carry the argument a bit further, if a man and a woman without Aadhaar numbers marry, they will not be able to get a marriage certificate, without which their children will be technically illegitimate. Also, their children will not be able to get birth certificates. Thus, the whole family will become non-persons. In fact, such a couple without a UID number would be well advised to use an IUD or other contraceptive device, and produce no children!

Civic authorities demanding a UID-Aadhaar number (which is not covered by any extant law) as a pre-condition for issue of a primary civic document which is mandated by law, puts bureaucratic ignorance and callousness on display. The political executive which is finally responsible cannot plead ignorance. The coercive mission of UIDAI is being pushed to ridiculous lengths by political-bureaucratic incompetence.

Major General S.G. Vombatkere retired as the Additional Director General, Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ, New Delhi. The President of India awarded him the Visishta Seva Medal in 1993 for distinguished service rendered over 5 years in Ladakh. He holds a PhD degree in Structural Dynamics from IIT, Madras. He is Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Iowa, USA, and is a member of NAPM and PUCL. He writes on strategic and development-related issues.

E-mail: sg9kere@live.com

3179 - Poor Aadhaar penetration can imperil DCT rollout

Poor Aadhaar penetration can imperil DCT rollout

Last Updated: Tuesday, March 19, 2013, 17:48

Rashi Aditi Ghosh/Zee Research Group/

Using Aadhaar as the sole criterion for eligibility might delay the rollout of the ambitious Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) scheme to the poor in the country. This is in view of the rather poor integration yet of Aadhaar with pro poor government schemes. 

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government`s dream scheme DCT rolled out from January 1, 2013 in 43 districts for 26 selected central sector and centrally sponsored schemes in a phase wise manner based on the twin pillars of Aadhaar generation and financial inclusion. 

The DCT project covers schemes like Janani Suraksha Yojana, Dhanalakshmi Scheme, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), Maulana Azad National Fellowship and Post Matric Scholarship for SC Students. 

According to finance ministry, the integration of Aadhaar into government programmes has involved only two percent of the participants during 2012-13 and its 100 per cent achievement is projected by 2018-2019. Finance ministry data, however, shows that 22.98 crore Aadhaar cards have been generated in 2012-2013 i.e. merely 18.5 percent of the total population of India. 

Citing the complexity involved with the enrollment process of Aadhaar cards, Suranjan Sengupta, member of the expert group to review the methodology for estimation of poor at Planning Commission (Tendulkar committee) said, “100 per cent coverage of Aadhaar cards and its integration with other government programmes is questionable for India.” 

He does not, however, have a quarrel with the idea behind the unique identity project. “Aadhaar is indeed a great idea but its enrollment procedure is complex. Aadhaar can be optimistic for urban areas but rural populace may find it difficult due to their ignorance and low literacy level,” he opined. 

As per the plan, DCT projected that its implementation would help in rectifying the leakages prevailing in the major programs like the Public Distribution System (PDS) under which food subsidy is given to the poor in the country. Experts have labored over the heavy loss in the scheme due to mounting leakages. 

To plug these leakages, the government proposes to roll out the cash transfer scheme for food subsidy initially to six Union Territories and willing states. Leakages have gone on unchecked and the latest data serves as a reminder of the menace. According to Consumer affairs, food and public distribution ministry in 2013 (up to January 2013), 24 complaints regarding the leakages were registered this year. 

Talking about the premature implementation of DCT scheme in view of the Aadhaar, S. Indrakant, RBI Chair Professor at Hyderabad based Centre for Social Development (CSD), said, “Direct cash transfer can be a dream project for the government but it’s a premature thought in terms of its implementation.” 

He recalled that earlier the food coupon scheme was introduced in Andhra Pradesh to control the leakages in the food distribution system. Initially the scheme worked appropriately but was later abandoned as it also promoted leakages due to its hierarchy of distribution. 

“Similarly DCT may provide cash benefits to the needy but it also involves hierarchy and this time within the family. If the head of the family who receives the cash is an alcoholic then the money is again going to be misused,” he warned. 

3178 - 75% Aadhaar cards done, but rest facing long wait at centres

75% Aadhaar cards done, but rest facing long wait at centres

Anjaya Anparthi, TNN | Mar 26, 2013, 06.54 AM IST

NAGPUR: Some 74.33% citizens have already registered for Aadhaar card in Nagpur, but those waiting to get registered are facing great inconvenience due to less number of registration centres, even as the May 31 deadline for registration is nearing. The state government is trying to cope with the last rush by directing district administration and civic bodies to open centres in public places like schools and colleges, besides government offices. It has also promised stringent action if any irregularities come to fore in Aadhaar cards.

Government data says 17,87,856 citizens were registered in the city as of March 8. The 2011 population census puts the city's population at 24.05 lakh. Thus, 74.33% of Nagpur's population has been registered under Aadhaar.

The Aadhaar registration seriously picked up pace after February, when the education department issued a directive to all schools and colleges, to ensure their students, teachers and parents are registered by May 31. As a result, some schools have set the deadline for their students and parents as March 31.

At the launch of Aadhaar registration in September 2010, NMC was given a target of completing the registration of 24.05 lakh population by March 31, 2012. But this target could not be achieved. The registration of only 15,66,893 persons have been completed at the given date, which was 65.155% of target.

Then, the government restarted enrolment in all cities to cover the remaining population from middle of 2012. Government figures reveal that 2,20,963 citizens have been registered in the second phase up to March 8.

However, citizens trying to register now are facing problems due to lack of sufficient number of centres. Government figures say there are only 15 centres in the city with 44 machines. Chairman of Laxmi Nagar zone Gopal Bohare told TOI that at least 250 machines should be available in the city. "NMC and district administration are not taking any interest towards Aadhaar registration. Laxmi Nagar zone does not have a single centre. I pressed for a centre for five months, and was given only three centres," he said.

Even NMC is not considering requests from schools to start Aadhaar centres. Director of South Point School, Ring Road, Deven Dasture said they have submitted an application two months ago requesting a centre at the school for the convenience of students and nearby citizens. "NMC did not even reply to my application. Centers should be increased as the existing centres are too few and far away from our school," he said.

NMC's Aadhaar coordinator RS Kamble said they now have 83 machines at work. "NMC is planning to take the number to 100. A mega centre with 10 machines has been started at Nehru Nagar zone. NMC has also requested the government to increase the agencies. Five agencies have been operating in the city. Now, IDBI Bank is set to start its centres. The registration will be expedited and completed in couple of months if the government permits six more agencies," he said.

Meanwhile, complaints are coming in of irregularities at Aadhaar centres. Corporator Bandu Raut said touts are demanding Rs500-700 to get Aadhaar cards made, taking undue advantage of the huge waiting time. "I will catch the touts red-handed and then lodge a complaint with police and NMC," he said.

3177 - Himachal issues over 51 lakh Aadhaar cards

Himachal issues over 51 lakh Aadhaar cards

Every day, 50-60 people were being issued cards in every registration centre

News | by IANS

SHIMLA, INDIA: A total of 51,94,552 Aadhaar cards have been generated in Himachal Pradesh by the Unique Identification Authority of India, the assembly was told Wednesday.

Every day, 50-60 people were being issued cards in every registration centre and by end of this year, the government aims to provide cards to 95 percent of the state's total population, Information Technology Minister Vidya Stokes said in a written reply.

She said to cover those left out, registration centres have been opened at the block level.

3176 - Aadhaar card scandal: Youth Congress leader under the scanner

Aadhaar card scandal: Youth Congress leader under the scanner

Indore: Aadhaar card scandal surfaced here has rocked the city. Thirty-three Aadhaar cards were recovered from a local Youth Congress leader, police said.

"Thirty-three Aadhaar cards issued in name of members of public were recovered from Rohit Kachwaha, Vice President of local wing of Youth Congress", Rajendra Nagar Thana Incharge Dharmveer Singh told PTI.

A case under section 102 of CrPc was registered in this regard and investigations are on to find out how Kachwaha could lay his hands on the cards issued in name of members of general public, he said.

"A postman is also being questioned on the delivery of Aadhaar cards in this regard", Singh said.

Police is trying to know the real motive behind this act of congress leader.

3175 - All in the Name of the Poor

http://www.epw.in/editorials/all-name-poor.html

All in the Name of the Poor

• Vol - XLVIII No. 13, March 30, 2013  Editorials

Who will be the real beneficiaries of the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme?

Why is there little or practically no information in the 2013-14 budget on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s pet scheme to bring about direct cash transfer payments to eventually replace price subsidies for food, fuel and fertiliser products? Who are going to be the real beneficiaries of the direct cash transfers via Aadhaar-linked bank accounts using the unique identification (UID) platform?

Food will not immediately be replaced by direct cash transfers, but the ultimate objective is to do so, especially with the impending passage of the National Food Security Bill. The union cabinet has approved the draft legislation which is expected to be introduced in the current session of Parliament. An election promise of 2009, the bill has had few supporters in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. If it is now being pushed through it is surely on account of electoral considerations with an eye to the next Lok Sabha elections. 

But the food subsidy budgeted for 2013-14 is only Rs 90,000 crore (compared to the revised figure of Rs 85,000 crore in the current financial year), though the finance minister has said he will provide Rs 10,000 crore more. This will still be grossly inadequate for any food security programme. 

The fertiliser subsidy, on its part, has actually come down quite significantly, from the actual figure of Rs 70,013 crore in 2011-12 to the budgeted Rs 65,971 crore in 2013-14. The revised petroleum subsidy was Rs 96,880 crore in 2012-13 (revised estimates) and has been put at a mere Rs 65,000 crore next year. 

Should we not see all these figures in the light of what is on the anvil?

For political reasons, the government has been promoting the direct cash transfer scheme as an anti-corruption measure. But the real objective of the government is, of course, that it sees this as the way to reduce the “major subsidies” bill. On food, for example, given food inflation at more than 10% per annum, if the government keeps a check on the direct cash transfer payments, indeed, ensures that its real value per average household, i e, relative to consumer food price inflation rate, is not protected, then it will gradually reduce the major subsidies bill as a proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Beginning this year, the government has initiated the Direct Benefit Transfer programme in 26 schemes (mainly for payment of scholarships of various kinds), confining it to persons who have a UID card and a bank account linked with the UID interface. But next month, the direct cash transfer scheme is to be introduced in the public distribution system (PDS) in six union territories. So the government will eventually presumably do away with the PDS in these union territories. But the direct cash transfer scheme is to be eventually scaled up to the national level. 

To understand the implications, keep in mind that the UID is not just for the poor or those eligible for cash transfers who have to procure UID cards. The UID involves the recording of photographs, fingerprints and iris scans of the whole population, and the entire information is then stored in a centralised, national security database. In 2013-14, some 600 million persons are expected to be photographed, fingerprinted and iris scanned. 

Most of the 6,00,000 villages in the country do not have a bank branch, but the government envisages the opening of some 200 million accounts, all interfaced with the UID. 

What is, in effect, being created is an information technology (IT) infrastructure that links all bank accounts to the UID, and, this, at the public expense.

The poor, in whose name all this is being done, have no savings worth the name and the banks do not give them loans because they lack the collateral security. 

We are not exaggerating; the pilot schemes that we just referred to are going to be “expanded nationwide to various transfer of all benefits” (“Statements...as required under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act”, Union Budget 2013-14). Of course, the poor will have to deal with the banks via their banking correspondents (BCs) who will no doubt get their cut from the banks via the government coffers, but who is to stop these BCs from charging their customers more than the banks’ approved rates?

Think of it, a whole centralised, national security database is being created that can potentially be used to monitor the people enrolled in the UID, all this with no democratic accountability. 

Besides, via the banks, the financial system, much of it private-profit oriented, will have in place access to this database and thousands of crores of rupees under direct cash payment transfers, in effect very large additional sums of money, routed through them. And, the increasing flow of such benefits will be accompanied by the gradual dismantling of the PDS.

What then about diesel, kerosene, LPG, fertiliser and electricity subsidies? Basically, the pricing policy for subsidised goods will change to make the total amount of the subsidy “affordable” to the government and the subsidies will be better targeted, once more via Aadhaar-linked bank accounts using the UID platform. Overall, the expenditure on “major subsidies” will be targeted to come down from 2% of GDP in 2013-14 to 1.8% in 2014-15 and 1.6% in 2015-16. After all, doesn’t the UPA government fully agree with Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, and Fitch that its major subsidies bill is “unproductive expenditure”? And, isn’t the Bharatiya Janata Party also won over to this idea of direct cash transfer payments? The biggest two beneficiaries of the whole operation, especially of the UID platform and the integrated database it has created, will, of course, be so-called national security and the financial, especially the banking, system.

3174 - Question mark over issuing resident identity card plans

Question mark over issuing resident identity card plans

NEW DELHI: The government is having second thoughts about the wisdom of having a national identity card for all Indian residents — an idea that was first mooted by late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986, was promised by Congress as part of its 2009 election manifesto, and has been approved by the cabinet on different occasions in the past. 

At the first meeting of the group of ministers set up under Defence Minister AK Antony to review the proposed expenditure on such cards, ministers raised basic questions about the purpose of issuing resident I-cards — queries that have been already settled or resolved by previous decisions. Over 150 countries issue such national I-cards to their residents, including Germany, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

"Will the resident identity cards serve any purpose? These cards must serve a larger social purpose which should be demonstrable," said a senior minister who is part of the GoM, when asked about the dithering over the decision to issue I-cards based on the National Population Register (NPR) being created by the census office. 

The worries seem to be political as Congress does not want to spark a debate over who is a resident or who is a citizen. It may be looking to delay the process of issuing I-cards, which would have coincided with the build-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and five major state elections over the next seven months. 

"The resident I-cards could unleash a fresh form of politics over Indian citizens versus residents," admitted a minister. 

Any discussion on this subject will throw up the issue of illegal migrants from Bangladesh, an important vote bank in several states like Assam and West Bengal. The Congress brass is also apprehensive that a resident identity card based on biometric (finger print and iris) data collected for the NPR would be seen as a tool that could be used to target minorities. 

Nearly Rs 4,000 crore has already been spent on the NPR exercise to collect biometric details of all residents, of the Rs 6,600-odd crore approved by the cabinet for the purpose. But on January 31, the cabinet did not clear the expenditure for issuing I-cards to 82 crore adult Indian residents at a cost ofRs 5,500 crore, feigning confusion between the NPR and Aadhaar numbers being issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 

Home ministry officials had made a presentation to the GoM on March 13 about these I-cards' utility in addressing security concerns as well as delivering the government's welfare programmes to the poor — and the executive decisions over the past several years to issue them. But ministers aren't convinced. "The security applications of NPR cards are not clear," said the minister quoted earlier, requesting anonymity. "If someone runs away after triggering a blast, how will having an NPR card help? Police enquiries also result in tracing such people even without identity," he pointed out. 

Another minister who is part of the GoM said security concerns flagged by the Indian Navy after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks have already been addressed by the coastal NPR exercise that was conducted on a priority basis. But the exercise covered only 1.2 crore people in 3,331 coastal villages and small towns. Major cities like Chennai and Mumbai and larger towns that dot India's coastline are yet to be covered, said a senior government official. 

In June 2012, the committee on strengthening coastal security against threat from sea had directed the census office to complete the NPR, and issue I-cards to people in all the remaining coastal areas on a priority basis. The National Security Council Secretariat has made a similar request to the home ministry to provide identity cards to people living in the Siliguri corridor in the North-East. 

Officials are baffled by the government's growing reluctance over the issue of such cards despite explicit assurances to Parliament that this would be the logical conclusion of the NPR exercise. They point to Finance Minister P Chidambaram's approval of the I-card costs following elaborate deliberations by the Expenditure Finance Committee, which over three meetings had settled all the concerns or doubts raised about NPR cards by the Planning Commission, UIDAI and ministries. 

"Normally, once the finance ministry okays an expenditure, the cabinet simply ratifies the move as all the pros and cons have been thoroughly examined by the ministry. It's very unusual for the government to send the issue to a GoM," a secretary-rank official remarked at a meeting in the Prime Minister's Office last week to discuss the UPA's Aadhaar-led 'game changer' — direct benefit transfer. 

Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and UIDAI chief Nandan Nilekani are special invitees to the GoM that also includes Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chidambaram. 

The home ministry has requested the Cabinet Secretariat for the GoM to be reconvened soon and is preparing a fresh note on how NPR cards will address security threats in the areas of border management, immigration, counter-insurgency and terrorism.

3173 - Govt stops aid to Kashmiri migrants, tells them to get UID

Govt stops aid to Kashmiri migrants, tells them to get UID

Neelam Pandey, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, March 25, 2013

First Published: 00:50 IST(25/3/2013) | Last Updated: 02:34 IST(25/3/2013)

The Delhi government has stopped monthly cash assistance to Kashmiri migrants pending submission of Aadhar Card (Unique Identification number).

According to sources, in a number of districts, cash assistance has not been disbursed for the past three months or more. Kashmiri migrants are entitled to a cash assistance of Rs. 1,650 per person subject to a ceiling of R6,600 per family per month of four or more members. According to Delhi government, this cash assistance is provided to over 3,500 families in the city.

The families have decided to meet the divisional commissioner over this issue.

“Aadhar card has only added to our problems. Our identity is clearly established for more than two decades since exodus in 1990. Then, why does the government time and again invent ways to harass us,” said Ramesh Handoo, a resident of Sarita Vihar who has not got aid so far.

A number of them do not want an identity card which establishes their residence as Delhi.

“We have been told to enrol ourselves and only then we will get the cash assistance. I am a Kashmiri and not a resident of Delhi. If given an option, I will return to the Valley. Why should I get a document which will establish my identity differently. All these years we have been getting the cash assistance, so why should it be linked to UID now? Later, I might be denied the option of going there as my identity gets linked to Delhi,” said Rakesh Kaul, who hasn’t received cash assistance for the past three months.

The scheme was started on April 29, 1990 when the government paid the migrants R125 per month to a person, subject to a ceiling of R500 per family of four or more.

“We had received a few complaints about bogus persons claiming the cash assistance. We decided to link it to UID to keep a check on them. They can simply get themselves enroled and provide the copy of the enrolment,” said Dharam pal, revenue secretary and divisional commissioner, Delhi government.

The Delhi government had recently made Aadhar mandatory for availing various government services, including Annashree Yojana, old-age pension, marriage registration, registration of property and birth and death certificates.

3172 - Attorney General’s opinion on legality of UIDAI no more valid - Gopal Krishna

Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL)

To

Dr Manmohan Singh

Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues

Prime Minister's Council on UIDAI

Government of India

New Delhi

Shri A.K. Antony, Minister of Defence

Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding Issue of Resident Identity Cards under scheme of National Population Register (NPR)

Government of India

New Delhi

Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia,

Deputy Chairman,

Planning Commission

Special Invitee

Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues

Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding Issue of Resident Identity Cards under NPR Scheme 

Government of India

New Delhi

Shri Nandan Nilekani,

Chairman,

Unique Identification Authority of India

Planning Commission

Special Invitee

Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues

Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding Issue of Resident Identity Cards under NPR Scheme 

Government of India 

New Delhi

Shri R K Singh

Secretary

Union Ministry of Home Affairs  

Government of India 

New Delhi

Dr. C. Chandramouli  

Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India

Union Ministry of Home Affairs  

Government of India 

New Delhi

Date: March 24, 2013

Subject- Attorney General’s opinion on legality of UIDAI no more valid & violation of citizens’ rights from creation and collation of biometric information based UID/AADHAAR number & National Population Register (NPR)

Sir,

This is to draw your attention towards the reply of Union Minister of State for Planning, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Ashwani Kumar in the Lok Sabha on August 24, 2011 wherein he informed the Parliament about the commencement of operation of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) before the enactment of the National Identification Authority Bill, 2010. He replied, “The Attorney General (AG) has opined that the UIDAI could continue with its work till the enactment of the Bill.” (italics supplied)

I submit that since the minister had assured the Parliament based on the legal opinion of the Attorney General that the “UIDAI could continue with its work till the enactment of the Bill” and now since the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance that has rejected The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010 questioning the legality of UIDAI, UID/AADHAAR project and the act of subordinate legislation for biometric data collection, there is no legal basis for the continued work of the UIDAI. 

I submit that Attorney General’s opinion provided defense of UIDAI’s work only till the enactment of the Bill. This defence too now stands exhausted.

I submit that on February 11, 2011, Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI and Shri R.S. Sharma, Director General, UIDAI besides the officials of Union Ministry of Planning had appeared before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. The report of the Committee which was presented to the Parliament on December 13, 2011 records, “The Committee took evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Planning and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in connection with the examination of the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010. Major issues discussed with the representatives included, need for providing statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI); Definition of ‘Resident‘; provision for de-activating the Aadhaar Number; collection of demographic information and biometric information; nature of enrolment and special measures for enrolment of weaker sections. The Chairman directed the representatives to furnish replies to the points raised during the sitting within one week. The witnesses then withdrew. A verbatim record of proceedings was kept.”  

I submit that the Bill introduced on 3^rd December, 2010 in the Rajya Sabha was meant for legalizing and legitimizing the ongoing work done by Planning Commission’s Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) since January 28, 2009 as is evident from clause 57 of the Bill. The rejection of the Bill reveals that UIDAI officials could not defend the legally indefensible work on UIDAI without statutory status. The Clause 57 of the Bill reads: “Anything done or any action taken by the Central Government under the Resolution of the Government of India, Planning Commission bearing notification number A-43011/02/ 2009-Admin.I, dated the 28th January, 2009, shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.” Since this provision along with the Bill has been rejected the UIDAI itself has become legally indefensible.  

I wish to inform you that I had given my testimony before this Parliamentary Standing Committee on behalf of Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL).

I submit that the Bill stated that it was meant to “to provide for the establishment of the National Identification Authority of India for the purpose of issuing identification numbers to individuals residing in India and to certain other classes of individuals and manner of authentication of such individuals to facilitate access to benefits and services to such individuals to which they are entitled and for matter connected therewith or incidental thereto.” The Bill did not define “to certain other classes of individuals”.

I submit that responding to the question by Shri Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Member of Parliament, Indian National Congress from Ongole, Andhra Pradesh as to “whether there is a demand to stop the biometric enrolment of citizens till the National Identification Authority of India Bill is finalized”, the Minister replied, “Yes, Sir. The matter regarding withholding the issue of Aadhaar numbers until passing of National identification Authority Bill, 2010 was raised in the Rajya Sabha on 18.03.11 by Shri Rama Jois, MP (RS) as a Special Mention. The Hon’ble Member has also made references in this regard to the Standing Committee on Finance and to the Prime Minister’s Office.”

I also wish to draw your attention towards the acceptance of the petition of CFCL by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation with regard biometric data collection related to Planning Commission's Aadhaar/Unique Identification (UID) Number and Home Ministry's National Population Register (NPR) besides the order of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Case No. 349/90/0/2012/OC dated December 27, 2012.

I submit that the letter from Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation reads: "I have received a copy of your petition (118 pages) regarding Subordinate Legislation for Biometric Identity Card NRIC and Aadhhar/UID IS illegal & illegitimate and Constitutional, Legal, Historical & Technological Reasons Against UID/Aadhaar Scheme on 18.3.2013."

I submit that in a related development, in an order date December 27, 2012 addressed to Secretary, Union Ministry of Home Affairs, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has communicated human rights concerns regarding UID and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) submitted to it by CFCL. Earlier, NHRC had expressed its deep concerns and apprehensions about UID and "biometric information" in its submission before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance. 

I submit that in the matter of now rejected National Identification Authority of India (NIAI) Bill, 2010, “NHRC’s views on the NIAI Bill, 2010″ in the Human Rights Newsletter (Vol. 18 No.8, August 2011) reveals that UID/Aadhaar Number has dangerous ramifications is quite relevant in this regard. NHRC’s view was presented to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Finance. The PSC submitted its report to the Parliament on December 13, 2011 rejecting the UID Bill.

I submit that echoing NHRC’s view on “need for protection of information” and “the possibility of tampering with stored biometric information” in paragraph 5 (page no. 7 of the NHRC newsletter) and “disclosure of information in the interest of national security” mentioned in paragraph 9 (page no.8 of the newsletter), the Central Government’s Approach Paper for Legislation on Privacy dated October 13, 2010 admits, “India does not currently have a general data protection statute” as per information received from Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions through Letter Reference No.071/1/2010/-IR dated October 18, 2010.

I submit that on UID Number, the Approach Paper on Privacy Bill stated, “Data privacy and the need to protect personal information is almost never a concern when data is stored in a decentralized manner. Data that is maintained in silos is largely useless outside that silo and consequently has a low likelihood of causing any damage. However, all this is likely to change with the implementation of the UID Project. One of the inevitable consequences of the UID Project will be that the UID Number will unify multiple databases. As more and more agencies of the government sign on to the UID Project, the UID Number will become the common thread that links all those databases together. Over time, private enterprise could also adopt the UID Number as an identifier for the purposes of the delivery of their services or even for enrolment as a customer.” The Approach Paper on Privacy Bill discloses, “Once this happens, the separation of data that currently exists between multiple databases will vanish.” This poses a threat to the identity of citizens and the idea of residents of the state as private persons will be forever abandoned.

I submit that in their testimony before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on June 29, 2011, Shri Rajiv Sharma, Secretary General, NHRC, Shri A.K. Garg, Registrar (Law), NHRC and Shri J.P. Meena, Joint Secretary (P&A), NHRC expressed their concerns. The report presented to the Parliament on December 13, 2011 records, “The Committee heard the representatives of the National Human Rights Commission on “The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010”. The major issues discussed during the sitting broadly related to nature, objective and beneficiaries of aadhaar number; possible discrimination and specific provisions that are required to be built in; safeguards needed for securing the stored information by the proposed National Identification Authority of India; implications of the provisions of the Bill on the individual‘s right to privacy, etc.”

I submit that in a setback to efforts to bulldoze UID and related schemes, following the direction issued to the Union of India and Union Territory of Chandigarh by Punjab and Haryana High Court in the matter of Civil Writ Petition 569 of 2013 filed in the High Court against Union of India and others, the Executive Order for making Unique Identification (UID)/Aadhaar mandatory has been withdrawn.

I wish to inform you that in its order the bench of Justice A K Sikri, Chief Justice and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain dated February 19, 2013 had not noted that the petition “raises a pure question of law.” Since the Executive Order was withdrawn, the case too was disposed of March 2, 2013 with a two page order.  The Order observes, “In this writ petition filed as PIL, the petitioner has challenged the vires of notification issued by Union of India for making it compulsory to have UID Cards." It is further observed in the order that “Second issue raised in this petition is that vide order dated 5.12.2012, respondent No.3 i.e. Deputy Commissioner, U.T., Chandigarh has given directions to the Branch In charge Registration-cum-Accountant, office of Registering & Licensing Authority, Chandigarh not to accept any application for registration of vehicle and grant of learner/regular driving licence without UID card.” 

I submit that such attempts to make UID/Aadhaar have emerged as an act of bullying by the government agencies.

I submit that the petition before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Subordinate legislation draws attention towards how all the residents and citizens of India are being made subordinate to prisoner’s status by the ongoing collection of their “biometric information” that includes finger prints, iris scan for permanent storage in a Centralized Identities Data Register (CIDR) and National Population Register (NPR). This is being done ‘as per an approved strategy” by Planning Commission and Union Ministry of Home Affairs without any legal mandate.   

I am attaching the following six papers for your perusal and consideration:

1. UID/Aadhaar Enrolment Form (Its Column 8 reads: "I have no objection to the UIDAI sharing information provided by me to the UIDAI with agencies engaged in delivery of welfare services".)
2. The National Identification Authority of India (NIDAI) Bill, 2010 (Refer to Clause 57 at page no. 18 and Note on Clause 57 at page no. 29)
3. Statement of Concern on UID/Aadhaar Number (September 28, 2010)
4. Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on NIDAI Bill (Recommendations & Observations 3 (b) at page no. 30)
5. Case No. 349/90/0/2012/OC, Petition on UID & RFID (forwarded to Home Ministry on December 27, 2012 by NHRC order)
6. APPROACH PAPER FOR A LEGISLATION ON PRIVACY (Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions October, 2010)

I submit that the above documents are with reference to the recommendations dated November 4, 2008 made by the empowered group of Ministers (EGoM) that was constituted on December 4, 2006 to collate the two schemes – the National Population Register under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the Unique Identification Number (UID) project, the terms of reference No. 8 of Planning Commission’s notification dated January 28, 2009 stating, “Take necessary steps to ensure collation of NPR and UID (as per approved strategy)”, deliberations of the Cabinet Committee and the setting up of Group of Ministers (GoM).

I submit that NHRC’s observation that UID/Aadhaar Number will lead to discrimination due to its distinction between residents and citizens in the name of “delivery of various benefits and services” and “weaker sections of society” is quite stark.

I submit that with regard to UID and related schemes there is a need for a feasibility study, a cost-benefit analysis, assessment of national security concerns, data theft, constitutionality of this project, including in the matter of privacy, the relationship between the state and the people, security and other fundamental rights of citizens. The Report of the London School of Economics “Report on UK’s Identity Project” inter-alia states that “.....identity systems may create a range of new and unforeseen problems......the risk of failure in the current proposals is therefore magnified to the point where the scheme should be regarded as a potential danger to the public interest and to the legal rights of individuals”. Even our Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance said, “As these findings are very much relevant and applicable to the UID scheme, they should have been seriously considered.”

It is clear that UIDAI has been set-up through an Undemocratic Process which has raised issues regarding Privacy,  Surveillance, Profiling,  Tracking and Convergence “could change the status of the people in this country, with effects on our security and constitutional rights, and a consideration of all aspects of the project should be undertaken with this in mind." 

In view of these concerns and the invalidity of Attorney General’s opinion on UIDAI, I urge you to remember the origins and colonial use of biometric information during 1857 and stop the biometric based projects like UID/Adhaar as has been done in UK, Australia, France and China, to protect the constitutional and legal rights of citizens.

Thanking You

Yours faithfully

Gopal Krishna

Citizens Form for Civil Liberties (CFCL)

Mb: 9818089660 (Delhi)

E-mail: krishna1715@gmail.com

Cc

Hon’ble Member of Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues

Shri Sharad Pawar, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Food Processing Industries

Shri P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance

Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Home Affairs

Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister of Labour and Employment

Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology

Kumari Selja, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment

Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development

Shri Ajay Maken, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

Shri Ashwani Kumar, Minister of Law and Justice

Hon’ble Special Invitee, Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India related issues

Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, UIDAI

Hon’ble Member of Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding Issue of Resident Identity Cards to all usual residents of the country of age 18 years and above under the scheme of National Population Register (NPR)

Shri P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare

Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Home Affairs

Shri Ajit Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation

Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology

Kumari Selja, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment

Shri Praful Patel, Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises

Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Minister of Tribal Affairs, and Minister of Panchayati Raj

Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Rural Development

Shri Ashwani Kumar, Minister of Law and Justice

Hon’ble Special Invitees to Group of Ministers (GoM) regarding Issue of Resident Identity Cards to all usual residents of the country of age 18 years and above under the scheme of National Population Register (NPR)

Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission,

Shri Nandan Nilekani, Chairman, Unique Identification Authority of India,

Prof. K.V. Thomas, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution,  

Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

3171 - Shame! Andhra Pradesh in the eye of the Aadhaar card scam

Shame! Andhra Pradesh in the eye of the Aadhaar card scam

http://postnoon.com/2013/03/23/shame-andhra-pradesh-in-the-eye-of-the-aadhaar-card-scam/115678

Rahul Ramakrishna | March 23, 2013 | 0 Comments

A clause meant to ensure no one was left out of Aadhaar has become the keystone of a major scam.

Trust us to spin a scam out of anything. One more blotched job on Aadhaar card Abhiyan has come out. Putting a big question mark on its credibility, the Lok Sabha on Thursday was informed that gross misuse of the Biometric Exemption Clause by Aadhaar enrolment officers at the national level had forced the UIDAI to cancel 3,84,237 cards. This means an unspecified sum has found its way to private pockets. Earlier, several complaints regarding Aadhaar card had been reported. AP is on top with the highest number of this scandal.

What is biometric exemption clause?

When performing a biometric scan, the details of a set of physical aspects of the applicant are taken into record — fingerprints, iris scans, facial features, etc. This, however, is exempted in rare cases for people with physical disabilities and whose professions (commercial labourers, miners) make it difficult to record biometrics. As an alternative, photographic records of their absent biometrics (damaged irises, absent fingers, smoothened fingers with no record of prints) are recorded along with demographic details of the applicant. This system of inclusion, absent among other civil supply cards like the ration card, was what the government believed to be a “fool proof” inclusion of all sections of the public — until things went wrong, that is.

What went wrong and how?

After nearly 50,000 Aadhaar cards remained undelivered, authorities at the UIDAI got suspicious. All of them turned out to be cards granted under the Biometric Exemption Clause. Investigations by the UIDAI revealed that Andhra Pradesh alone contributed to the highest number of fake cards, with 2.3 lakh out of the total 4.1 lakh generated here under this scheme. AP had recorded a total 48.8 lakh registrations for the Aadhaar card last year.

Some agencies entrusted with the enrolment centres realised that they could ‘grant exemption’ for any applicant at a nominal price. In Hyderabad alone, the price varied from `50 to `200. Enrolment officers played a game for this and made a pile.

One Aadhaar card enrolment officer from Warangal, on condition of anonymity, said it was a fast and cheap way of making money. “Some people who did not want their biometrics would approach us with a deal. We would slot them under the biometric exemption category and exclude their biometrics from being recorded. This could be photographically manipulated. We received money in return for the business,” he said. Shortly after the regional UIDAI realised that something was wrong, this enrolment officer was relieved of his duties and the cards issued from his office were cancelled.

Aftermath

Shortly after the lid blew off this scam, the government hastened to cancel these enrolments and made amendments to its policy, but it was too late. Other such instances were reported in Jharkhand, UP, Maharashtra as well. It was found that only 22,195 of the total 4.1 lakh Aadhaar cards generated under this clause were genuine. Another 7,000 registrations came under investigation.The UIDAI instructed all enrolment agencies not to grant biometric exemption without prior permission of a senior officer, preferably a government official. But then, the truth is, that too can be managed. Officials from the regional office of UIDAI, Hyderabad were unavailable for comment.

But as an RTI activist says, it’s an irony that the scheme implemented for removing corruption, was in itself, flawed and even corrupt. Rakesh Reddy Dubbudu says, “The whole Aadhaar is a farce. It was implemented without any proper study on the reliability of technology. There is corruption in a scheme that is supposed to eliminate corruption from other schemes.”

Tags: aadhaar, aftermath, enrolments, featured, full-image, government

Category: City, City News

3170 - A summary of the National Food Security Bill, 2013 - Kafila

A summary of the National Food Security Bill, 2013

MARCH 24, 2013

tags: Food security India, Hunger in India, malnutrition, National Food Security Bill 2013

by Shivam Vij

This summary of the National Food Security Bill 2013 (revised version, as tabled in Parliament, 22 March 2013) comes to us via Jean Dreze

1. Preliminaries

The Bill seeks “to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity and for matters connected therwith and incidental thereto”.

It extends to the whole of India and “shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different States and different provisions of this Act”.

2. Entitlements

Public Distribution System (TPDS)

Priority households are entitled to 5 kgs of foodgrains per person per month, and Antyodaya households to 35 kgs per household per month. The combined coverage of Priority and Antyodaya households (called “eligible households”) shall extend “up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population”.

The PDS issue prices are given in Schedule I: Rs 3/2/1 for rice/wheat/millets (actually called “coarse grains” in the Bill). These may be revised after three years.

Children’s Entitlements

For children in the age group of 6 months to 6 years, the Bill guarantees an age-appropriate meal, free of charge, through the local anganwadi. For children aged 6-14 years, one free mid-day meal shall be provided every day (except on school holidays) in all schools run by local bodies, government and government aided schools, up to Class VIII. For children below six months, “exclusive breastfeeding shall be promoted”.

Children who suffer from malnutrition will be identified through the local anganwadi and meals will be provided to them free of charge “through the local anganwadi”.

Entitlements of Pregnant and Lactating Women

Every pregnant and lactating mother is entitled to a free meal at the local anganwadi (during pregnancy and six months after child birth) as well as maternity benefits of Rs 6,000, in instalments.

[Notes: (1) “Meal” is defined in the Bill as “hot cooked meal or ready to eat meal or take home ration, as may be prescribed by the Central Government”. All “meals” have to meet nutritional norms specified in Schedule II. (2) The entitlements of women and children are to be delivered by state governments through schemes “in accordance with the guidelines, including cost sharing” to be prescribed by the Central Government. (3) Every school and anganwadi is to have “facilities for cooking meals, drinking water and sanitation”. (4) For purposes of issuing ration cards, the eldest woman in the household (not less than 18 years of age) shall be considered head of the household.]

3. Identification of Eligible Households

The Bill does not specify criteria for the identification of households (Priority or Antyodaya) eligible for PDS entitlements. The Central Government is to determine the state-wise coverage of the PDS, in terms of proportion of the rural/urban population. Then numbers of eligible persons will be calculated from Census population figures. The identification of eligible households is left to state governments, subject to the scheme’s guidelines for Antyodaya, and subject to guidelines to be “specified” by the state government for Priority households. The lists of eligible households are to be placed in the public domain and “displayed prominently” by state governments.

4. Food Commissions

The Bill provides for the creation of State Food Commissions. Each Commission shall consist of a chairperson, five other members and a member-secretary (including at least two women and one member each from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes).

The main function of the State Commission is to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the act, give advice to the states governments and their agencies, and inquire into violations of entitlements (either suo motu or on receipt of a complaint, and with “all the powers of a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908”). State Commissions also have to hear appeals against orders of the District Grievance Redressal Officer and prepare annual reports to be laid before the state legislature.

The State Commission may forward “any case” to a Magistrate having jurisdiction, who shall proceed as if the case has been forwarded under Section 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973.

5. Transparency and Grievance Redressal

The Bill provides for a two-tier grievance redressal structure, involving the District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO) and State Food Commission. State governments must also put in place an internal grievance redressal mechanism which may include call centres, help lines, designation of nodal officers, “or such other mechanisms as may be prescribed”.

Transparency Provisions

Mandatory transparency provisions include: (1) placing all PDS-related records in the public domain and keeping them open for inspection to the public; (2) conducting periodic social audits of the PDS and other welfare schemes; (3) using information and communication technology (including end-to-end computerisation of the PDS) “to ensure transparent recording of transactions at all levels”; (4) setting up vigilance committees at state, district, block and fair price shop levels to supervise all schemes under the act.

District Grievance Redressal Officers

DGROS shall be appointed by state governments for each district to hear complaints and take necessary action according to norms to be prescribed by state governments. If a complainant (or the officer or authority against whom an order has been passed by the DGRO) is not satisfied, he or she may file an appeal before the State Food Commission.

Penalties and Compensation

The Food Commissions have powers to impose penalties. If an order of the DGRO is not complied with, the concerned authority or officer can be fined up to Rs. 5,000. The Commission can authorise “any of its members” to act as an adjudicating officer for this purpose.

In case of “non-supply of the entitled quantities of foodgrains or meals to entitled persons”, such persons will be entitled to a food security allowance from the state government, as prescribed by the central government.

6. Other Provisions

PDS Reforms

In Chapter VII, the Bill states that central and state governments “shall endeavour to progressively undertake” various PDS reforms, including: doorstep delivery of foodgrains; ICT applications and end-to-end computerisation; leveraging “aadhaar” (UID) for unique identification of entitled beneficiaries; full transparency of records; preference to public institutions or bodies in licensing of fair price shops; management of fair price shops by women or their collectives; diversification of commodities distributed under the PDS; full transparency of records; and “introducing schemes such as cash transfer, food coupons or other schemes to the targeted beneficiaries in lieu of their foodgrain entitlements” as prescribed by the central government.

Obligations of Government and Local Authorities

The main obligation of the Central Government is to provide foodgrains (or, failing that, funds) to state governments, at prices specified in Schedule I, to implement the main entitlements. It also has to “provide assistance” to state governments to meet local distribution costs, but on its own terms (“as may be prescribed”). The Central Government has wide-ranging powers to make Rules.

The main obligation of state governments is to implement the relevant schemes, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government. State governments also have wide-ranging powers to make Rules. They are free to extend benefits and entitlements beyond what is prescribed in the Bill, from their own resources.

Local Authorities and Panchayati Raj Institutions are responsible for proper implementation of the act in their respective areas, and may be given additional responsibilities by notification.

7. Schedules

The Bill has three schedules (these can be amended “by notification”). Schedule 1 prescribes issue prices for the PDS. Schedule 2 prescribes “nutritional standards” for midday meals, take-home rations and related entitlements. For instance, take-home rations for children aged 6 months to 3 years should provide at least 500 calories and 12-15 grams of protein. Schedule 3 lists various “provisions for advancing food security”, under three broad headings: (1) revitalization of agriculture (e.g. agrarian reforms, research and development, remunerative prices), (2) procurement, storage and movement of foodgrains (e.g. decentralised procurement), and (3) other provisions (e.g. drinking water, sanitation, health care, and “adequate pensions” for “senior citizens, persons with disability and single women”).

3169 - Biometric Marginality

Biometric Marginality

Vol - XLVIII No. 13, March 30, 2013 | Ursula Rao Review of Urban Affairs Review Issues

Debates on India's Unique Identification Number project have so far been based on the analysis of economic data, emerging legal frameworks, policy procedure, and technology. This paper shifts the focus to examine the implementation of the UID project in sites of urban marginality. A study of homeless citizens demonstrates that the usages of UID have not shifted the goalposts but are developing along the lines of established citizen-state relationships in both the empowering and excluding dimensions of the UID. To capture the social impact of UID, debates must move beyond the notion that the transformative potential rests in technology or abstract policy and study the ways it is made available to people in their everyday life.

3168 - With 95 per cent registrations in order, Delhi to soon switch to UID numbers for utility services

With 95 per cent registrations in order, Delhi to soon switch to UID numbers for utility services

TAGS: Aadhaar | Passport | PAN | NPR | UID number | Identificationc crisis | Identity

Delhi government claims 95 per cent success in providing an Aadhaar or UID number to citizens.

From paying bills to getting a driving licence, Delhiites will soon have to depend on a unique identification(UID ) number to avail a host of utility services.

The Delhi government has already linked 11 services to Aadhaar and more are going to be included soon. As far as providing an Aadhaar or unique identification number to Delhiites, the government claims it is 95 per cent successful.

According to a government estimate, there are 1.67 crore people in the city and it has apparently enrolled 1.40 crore people under Aadhaar.

            The Delhi government has already linked 11 services to Aadhaar.

The revenue department, which is handling the UID project, is confident it will be able to bring almost the entire city under Aadhaar by March 31. Besides Aadhaar, nearly 64 lakh people in the city have also registered for the National Population Register (NPR).

"We have covered nearly 95 per cent of the population so far after removing the duplication between Aadhaar and NPR. We hope to enroll at least 98 per cent population by the end of this month," says Dharam Pal, divisional commissioner and secretary, revenue.

Around 1.30 crore people have already been issued an Aadhaar number which is compulsory for availing the government's cash transfer schemes as well as to get birth, death, marriage, property registration, domicile and income certificates.

Around 1.30 crore people have already been issued an Aadhaar number.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit had fixed March 31 as the deadline for completing the enrolment process. Pal says the department is on track with 350 machines (for biometric registration) set up across the deputy commissioner's office in 11 revenue districts, 15 sub-registrar offices, 104 gender resource centres and also voter registration centres in the city. "We have decided to add about 200 more such machines in the coming days," Pal says.

The government has already linked five centrally sponsored cash transfer schemes to Aadhaar in the North and North-west districts. Besides, plans are afoot to link voter identity cards with Aadhaar before the assembly elections in December. If that happens, people will be able to vote by furnishing their Aadhaar number. "We may not make it compulsory for this year's election though," Pal says.

3167 - Who am I? Between Aadhaar, passport, PAN and NPR, citizens seem to be struggling to prove their identity

Who am I? Between Aadhaar, passport, PAN and NPR, citizens seem to be struggling to prove their identity

TAGS: Aadhaar | Passport | PAN | NPR | UID number | Identificationc crisis | Identity

Only 30 crore people across the country have been issued Aadhaar card.

Too many identity cards can serve up a crisis. And they are, for a multitude of options has made establishing one's identity confusing. Does one flash the Aadhaar card, PAN card, driving licence, or the passport? Or, is enrolment in the National Population Register (NPR) the proof of being an Indian?

The average Indian grapples with the problem every day. Migrants to the Capital find it difficult to even open bank accounts.

Even though Aadhaar has been made mandatory in 16 states and Union Territories, its penetration is limited - only 30 crore people have been issued the card across the country. The NPR remains a non-starter. For the non-salaried class, getting a PAN card remains a challenge. And not too many Indians have passports. So, how do they establish their identity?

"I had planned to drive down to Bhutan with my family a few years ago. At the border checkpoint at Phuntsholing, I flashed my PAN card as my proof of identity. The authorities there rejected it, saying that fake cards were in circulation. I had no other proof to establish my identity," says Nilaya Deep, a former top executive with Goldman Sachs in New York. Deep had left the US in 2007 to return to India.

Aadhaar has been made mandatory in 16 states and Union Territories but its penetration is limited.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is implementing the Aadhaar project, lists a set of documents accepted as identity proof. These include passport, PAN card, ration/PDS card, voter identity card, driving license, government photo ID card, NREGS job card, photo ID issued by a recognised educational institution, arms license, photo bank ATM card, photo credit card, pensioner photo card, freedom-fighter photo card, kisan photo passbook, CGHS/exservicemen contributory health scheme card and a certificate of identity with a photo issued by a Group-A gazetted officer on his letterhead.

Notwithstanding the government's assurances, the reliability of Aadhaar, which has reached only a fraction of targeted beneficiaries, in establishing a citizen's identity is itself under a cloud. Former deputy registrar general (census and tabulation), S.P. Sharma said, "The card containing unique identity (UID) number mentions it is not a proof of citizenship. Yet, Aadhaar has been made compulsory for accessing government services, including Direct Benefit Transfer, for opening a bank account and getting a driving licence. So, those who are not Indian citizens can also benefit from government schemes. UID has brought foreigners on a par with Indians."

Under the Citizenship Act, Sharma said, the onus is on citizens to prove citizenship through various means such as ownership of property and inclusion in voters' list

3166 - Biometric Census to begin next month

Biometric Census to begin next month

ZAHID MAQBOOL

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Srinagar, Mar 22: Biometric census, which constitutes the second phase of the National Population Register (NPR) project, will commence in Kashmir Valley from next month.

Officials associated with the NPR in J&K told Greater Kashmir that biometric census will commence from second week of April from Kulgam and Ganderbal districts.“We have completed the collection of basic data under the first phase. Now we will start holding camps to gather biometric data in valley from next month. Headquarters of Census Operations has already initiated tendering process in this regard,” said Joint Director, Census Operations J&K, Chander Shekhar Saproo.

Official sources said a meeting has been scheduled this week between census officials and District Development Commissioners of Ganderbal and Kulgam.

“We will start from districts that are less in area comparatively. It will help officials associated with Census to gain experience in the work which will help them in other major districts later,” officials said.

Meanwhile government has already started biometric census in J&K from district Samba in Jammu.The government had launched NPR project in the year 2010 with a motive to provide National Identity Cards to each and every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir. The form filling and house-listing process was started by Census department in August 2010.

 NPR will be an exhaustive database, listing all residents in the state, district, block, village, and household. The register will include any person who stays or intends to stay in an area for six months or more, both citizens and non-citizens, and the data will eventually be replaced by a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC).

 Pertinently the State government was asked by the Centre to replace the Aadhar project with NPR as has been done by various other states across the country.

 “The process is basically aimed to give every citizen a unique mode to identify himself in front of the governing body. For this purpose, a Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was formed by the Planning Commission last year,” sources said.