Somasekhar VK
14 Apr 2014
This is a very brief note to explain every detail. The topic is so huge that a one or two-page note is inadequate for the purpose. This may be read in conjunction with the Monograph titled, ‘UID is NOT yours’ (Compilation of articles & documents released recently in a Press meet in Delhi).
UID has been given a brand name ‘Aadhaar’. Brand names are meant for marketing purposes to sell commercial goods, not for Government services. Hence, we have not used the brand name in the note deliberately.
Here are the points.
Dangers:
1. UID is a threat to national security. This is the view of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, which examined the National Identification Authority of India, Bill 2010 (NIDAI, Bill) and the UID scheme. The reason for considering UID as a threat to national security is as follows:
a. The biometric technology and equipment is provided by foreign private companies, principally three of them, namely, L1 Identity Solutions (L 1), Accenture PLC and Mahindra Satyam Morpho (MSM).
b. L1’s Directors are former officers of FBI and CIA. The company provides intelligence services to these US agencies and US Government. It has since been taken over by Safran – a company headquartered in France. L1 continues to operate in USA. L1 also provides services to National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) of Pakistan, which is setting up a database similar to that of the UIDAI database.
c. Accenture is another US company, which also provides services to US intelligence agencies and Defence Department.
d. Every authentication of identity has to be done by L1. The technology has not been transferred to India. The equipment supplied by L1 poses the same threats that Huawei modems pose to – all data captured could be accessed by USA and others.
e. Any resident in India can get himself/herself enrolled with UID, whether they are Indian citizen or not. This means non-citizens can enrol themselves and pretend to be citizens, since there is no way of identifying whether they are citizens or not. Illegal immigrants and terrorists could also enrol with UID. Since, UID is assumed by most people to have magical power of infallibility due to claims put out by the UIDAI and the Government. Once a person produces his/her UID card, it will be taken as a proof of their being law-abiding Indians.
f. Fake IDs were generated at a UID enrolling centre in Bangalore. Over 1000 such IDs were found during a raid on an enrolling agency, which was issuing these IDs after taking huge bribes from sub-contractors. The fraud came to light when one sub-contractor complained. The UIDAI was not aware of the fake IDs until then.
g. UID database is to be merged with the NPR database. NPR is only for citizens and UID for all residents. This is dangerous.
Corruption:
2. There is widespread corruption in the implementation process of the UID scheme.
a. The private firms which are contractors of the UIDAI have been held guilty of corruption.
b. Accenture has been found guilty under the Anti-kickbacks Act, Anti-false Claims Act and the Truth in Negotiations Act in USA. They accepted their guilt and paid up the fines.
c. COMAT Technologies Pvt Ltd had a contract with the Karnataka Government Civil Supplies Department for making a database of BPL ration cardholders. The contract was terminated as the company did not give the database to the Government. CAG audit reported that the company received Rupees 6O Crores from the Government for the job, but did not fulfil the contract. The company has been empanelled as an enrolling agency of UIDAI. The company enrols people in the UID scheme at Mysore. A fraud of issuing fake UID at the company’s enrolling centre was detected in a sting operation by a TV channel. Ali, a terrorist, who is in Parapana Agrahara jail, was given UID in this sting operation.
d. An FIR has been filed against the auto driver who was involved in the fraud, but not against the company. It has been reported that the company’s MD is also Director of E-Gov Foundation, an organisation of Nilekani.
e. Frauds in the UID and poor implementation of the UID have been reported from many places.
f. The brand name, ‘Aadhaar’ is also the name of a Trust of Nilekani.
g. Now, the Government has decided to use the UID for cash transfers. This is nothing but an attempt to buy votes. There is no need of the UID for making cash transfers. Anyone can even now transfer cash using the Internet or a mobile phone. The purpose of using the UID for cash transfers is to let Central Government have control over these as the UIDAI database is controlled by the UIDAI and their foreign contractors. The scheme is being implemented in the States where the Opposition – BJP – is in power.
h. World Bank report on Columbia states clearly that cash transfer can fetch votes.
UID – Useless:
1. It is known by scientific research that fingerprints and iris identity can be easily faked. As the size of the database increases, the errors multiply exponentially. Fingerprints of manual labourers and elderly people are worn out and hence are inaccurate for identification. Yeddyurappa’s fingerprints could not be taken even after two attempts. It is equally easy to fake iris scans.
2. The problem of corruption in PDS, LPG, MNERGS, fertiliser subsidy, farm loan waiver etc is not due to identification of the beneficiary, but due to decisions on eligibility for the welfare benefits. This has also been accepted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
3. The Committee called the UID scheme, “Directionless”, “Ill-conceived” and “Lacking in clarity”.
4. Attempts to use biometric databases for these purposes have been given up in USA, UK and Australia. Australia tried it for 20 years and gave up after finding it useless. The Canadian Parliament, the Israel and Philippine Supreme Court have declared such databases as illegal.
(All documentary evidence to prove the statements above are available. Some of them are by RTI queries from UIDAI itself)
Further, this is a sustained campaign that we have held and even UIDAI authorities participated in some of them and when they found themselves unable to answer the queries of the audience, since then they refuse to attend programmes where we are on the Panel!
(This piece was sent in by a Niti Central reader Somasekhar VK)