By : Akham Bonbir Dhwaja Singh
We may call it by any name, Aadhar or Citizens’ Number or others, but all citizens of the country need its identity card with its digitised details like biometric details and at least with the name of father/mother. Many European countries have it, developed countries have it, and we badly need it, otherwise state like Manipur which is in the border are in the threat of swarming by foreigners from Myanmar. Here, let me tell you that an ambitious scheme of providing unique identity number to the citizens of the country, Aadhaar, was launched by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at a special function at Shahada in the tribal district of Nandurbar in Maharashtra in 2009. Under the Aadhaar scheme, a 12-digit unique number is to be provided to every citizen of the country. It is aimed at ensuring that the citizens get more efficient access to national schemes The programme being overseen by the Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI) aims to establish a cost-effective, ubiquitous authentication infrastructure to easily verify these identities online and in real-time. I am offering no comment whether it should have had the nod of the parliament or whether it was right to have it established under an executive order or whether it was set up too much in a hurry or not. My interest is on something else, on how we can put Aadhaar in to use in forest protection.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), was established in February 2009, and owns and operates the Unique Identification Number database called Aadhaar Scheme. The agency provides a unique identification number to all persons resident in India, but not identity cards. The agency will maintain a database of residents containing biometric and other data. Shri Nandan M Nilekani is the chairman of the Unique Identification Database Authority of India under the aegis of the Planning Commission. Shri Nilekani has the rank and status of a Cabinet minister.
Certain flaws have been detected. The IB says so. The Supreme Court also has reservations. Many are having doubts. But my personal opinion is that the same is reparable, it is a useful tool, which can be put to maximum use. Otherwise, the infiltration from Taliban and ISI would really be difficult to check. Checking illegal foreigners shall be difficult. Crimes shall be on the rise. With Aadhaar, the checking of criminals could be so easy. But for forest protection, there is a relevant point, it shall be the best tool for forest protection and will complement well with our forest laws. They will be useful in a number of cases. The probable scenarios are being explained in the following few Para.
Case1: Foreigners Case-When a foreigner sneaks inside through the porous border, he would be searching for some vacant land. Sneaking inside is so easy because we have same ethnic races on the other side of the border. The people will find some way even if the border is completely sealed.
Case 2: Encroachers Case-The encroachers by local people are mainly targeting the govt land because they have their own land but the govt. land is being usurped as additional land by people coming from other districts and locality. The encroachment due to urban migration is rampant in Imphal, Churachandpur, Tengnoupal (Moreh) and others.
Case 3: Offenders Case-Forest offenders get away with false identity in the remote areas and escapes from proper penalty. So, the disposal of forest offences can be computerised and identity can be based on Aadhaar.
Case 4: Illegal Citizens-the Voters ID Card is also not free of criticisms as the state had over 100 % decadal growth in some place, and chances of the infiltrators and outsiders getting in to the voters lists is of high probability. We can remember that the Nagaland Government used to verify its sharp rise in decadal growth with church records.
Note: There may be many other uses of Aadhaar, its mandate and all. What is mentioned here is with relation to forest protection only.
The UID number shall be ideally suitable for forest protection purposes. The unique identification number (UI D) will be a ‘number for life’ for millions of Indians. This number can be used for verification of new settlements. The domestic movement within the country is slated to escalate due to development and climate change that would drive migration. There will be people from our poorer neighbouring countries, who would be moving to commercial cities which would be big economic, environmental and security threat. It is here the unique identification number will make a difference as it will be the ‘number for life’ for them. The Aadhaar shall be helpful in forest protection in:
1. Identification of offenders
2. Prosecution process, awarding of double penalty etc.
3. Detecting foreigners who are encroaching in forest land
4. Implementing FRA.
I had a serious debate with an Advocate at Delhi, who forwarded a number of arguments against the Aadhaar, which I would like to presume them as bias arguments fraught with vested interest. The threat to citizens from foreign agents on account of Aadhaar biometrics is more of a fiction than a reality. For the country which has borders with many unfriendly countries but with similar ethnic origin, it is a must. The country is in the serious threat of security from the people who come from other countries and settle here. The neighbouring countries are having highly unstable government, abject poverty and active militancy. We all know how Bangladesh and Nepal is. I need not tell about Pakistan. So, the people from other countries are always on the lookout for a chance to come over to this country. In Myanmar, the jobs are scarce, money has low value and the democratic rights and human right are not at the level one would fancy to live with. Many common tribal groups are also not recognised in that country. There is a vast tract of unadministered or self administered territory, which are potent threat to this country’s demography and security. India and Manipur could be just like heaven to them. It is extremely unfortunate that the situation in Myanmar is like that. So naturally, they will come in thousands and swarm forest land in India. They also pose serious security threat and how they pose threat is not too far to guess. So the forest land near the border is under serious threat from such immigrants or illegal foreigners. Personally, I have my own opinion that the census figures or voters list is not that reliable for preventing them from settling in the Forest Land, how they are not reliable in Manipur is in everybody’s knowledge. Another serious implication of these foreigners is that they will take away the rights of the local tribals entitled to them under the Forest Rights Act, (Scheduled Tribe and Other Traditional Forest Dweller’s (Recognition of right to Forests) Act, 2005). Using Aadhar will protect the right of the local tribals. There are also chances that some local people may make double claims, may be at different places or districts, but using Aadhaar will rule out such double claims. Aadhaar is tailor made for forest protection. The biometrics being collected may be modified or replaced; such a detail database is in the interest of legitimate citizens. It shall also be useful in identifying the criminals and antisocial elements particularly the encroachers of forest land, smugglers of forest produce, it will be preventive and deterrent both. Let us smoothen the hitches, remove the glitches and keep it going.
30-Apr-2014 / Akham Bonbir Dhwaja Singh / 0 Comments
