March 25th, 2014
Statement by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP & Member, Standing Committee on Finance
This has reference to the recent media exposes about the Aadhar project and yesterday’s Supreme Court decision. This validates and confirms the position I have held publicly on Aadhaar on which I have written and spoken and attempted on many occasion to raise in Parliament.
There is for the first time, a detailed scrutiny of this project and its claims. I welcome this. Yet again, it is that media and our judicial system intervene on behalf of the people, cutting through the hyperbole and claims, just as they have on many important issues like 2G scam, Coalgate, Voting rights for Soldiers, when Governments fail to do so.
This scrutiny is required, the hype needs to be breached and truth needs telling.
For the taxpayers and right thinking citizens of this country, this scrutiny and analysis is welcome and is much required. Because it involves Rs 50,000 Crores of public money that has been/ is being spend on a project that I have long maintained is a tragic waste of precious taxpayer money.
The project has had little or no debate or discussion in Parliament or anywhere.
Throughout this project, the Government has rebuffed every effort for a discussion and engagement on the objectives, scope and impact of this expensive project. At a personal level I have sought many times a debate and discussion on this within Parliament and outside.
I am a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance which scrutinized this project and recommended its shelving and merger with the National Population Register. These recommendations were conveniently ignored by the Government and leadership of UID, which has otherwise made several statements on the supremacy of Parliament and the wisdom of the standing committees in other convenient contexts.
Aadhar is deeply flawed and is now searching for justifications.
The recent exposes confirm what several have suspected all along. That Aadhar is deeply flawed and is being used to regularize and create fake identities for those that seek it, in the easiest and cheapest manner! This should lead to all kinds of natural worries including the important one about risks of Illegal immigration both from security standpoint and also overwhelming our stretched social security/subsidy system. That this Government would allow this at a time when the Chief of Army refers to Illegal immigration, as one of the big dangers to National security, will make those that care about these issues get really angry and even the most insensitive amongst us shake our head in bewilderment. There are many other fundamental flaws in this including that of Data integrity, Privacy etc that have been flagged earlier.
Aadhar has become something other than its original objective
This project should have been a showcase of technology improving Governance. Instead because of shortcuts and other mysterious reasons, it has failed in that goal and has sadly has become yet another instance of Taxpayer moneys being used to propagate and market individuals and political agendas.
To refer to Aadhaar as an anti corruption tool despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary is mystifying. That it is now officially a Rs.50,000 Crores solution searching for an explanation is also without any doubt.