17 Jun 2014
(File photo, People applying for Aadhaar cards)
One of the major challenges which Narendra Modi’s Government is facing is to right the wrongs done by the Manmohan Singh’s UPA regime during the last years’ of its rule. Alongwith giving a boost to the ailing economy, curbing the soaring inflation, the NDA also needs to revitalise UPA’s ambitious Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) scheme with the trademark efficiency of Narendra Modi’s governance.
UID, popularly known as Aadhaar, was conceptualised as a one stop solution as ID and address proof of the citizens of India. It was implemented to make programmes like the Public Distribution System efficient and ensure that benefits sent by the Government reach the right person.
Aadhaar, despite being an important reform and a unique idea, was executed badly by the UPA. Over Rs 3,500 crore have been spent so far in the scheme which has already enrolled about 63 crore people. But it proved to be of no use to the people. The Congress-led UPA instead tried to use the crucial information for its personal gains during election by distributing money and enroll illegal immigrants to get India’s citizenship, who’ll ultimately vote for the Congress for its benevolence.
During his campaign as BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi slammed the Congress-led UPA Government over the Aadhaar card project, questioning the deployment of massive funds for it, virtually smelling corruption.
Mocking at the claims of UPA Government on the Aadhaar card project, Narendra Modi had said, “Congressmen were dancing as if it was a herb for all cures. With the Supreme Court pulling up the Centre, people are now seeking answers from the Prime Minister who should disclose how much money had been spent.”
Since, Aadhaar cards are issued by submitting biometric data and without any identity verification, it gives a chance to the thousands of illegal immigrants, foreign nationals and even terrorists living in the country to get India’s citizenship very easily. The fake or true ID information could be linked to an ID holder’s iris or biometric information and manufacture en masse UID without entering a Government office.
Incidents in the past support this view.
The Special Cell of the Mumbai Police had arrested no less than 8 Bangladeshi men from a posh south Mumbai hotel, last year. Surprisingly, one of the arrested men, Mohammad Kabir Aslam Islam had a driver’s license, a PAN card, and even an Aadhaar Card. According to a report published in the Navbharat Times, Islam told police that he had arranged for these documents by paying a middleman Rs 2500.
A previous NitiCentral report titled ‘Nilekani’s Aadhaar a danger to our privacy’, narrated how on March 10, 2014, the Mumbai Police busted a fake Aadhaar card and voter identity card racket in Byculla, which they believe is part of a much larger racket in creation of fake identities. Three persons were arrested for forgery of official records and their equipment, including iris and fingerprint scanners were seized. Among the fake election cards seized, at least three had different names but a similar number (ZHS 4001377).
This reflects callousness of the erstwhile UPA regime which made no such arrangements to address these concerns. Narendra Modi Government will have to brainstorm in this direction to ensure no fake Aadhaar cards are being made and sensitise the police to check such activities.
Instead of providing solutions, the UPA, due to poor planning, opened a can of worms. People might end up losing their privacy as crucial information (e.g. biometric data) is shared with foreign-based private operators, which could be misused by intelligence agencies to fulfil their nefarious intentions.
Since all of the biometric data is being shared online, which is prone to hackers and snoops, with private operators, privacy of millions has been put at risk. Most of the companies working for UID are US-based and several of them reportedly had or are working for its intelligence agencies like CIA.
One of the firms engaged in the project is the New York-based MongoDB, which is backed by the CIA and other intelligence agencies. It has access to the complete database. Former National Security Agency (NSA) employee turned whistle-blower, Edward Snowden, has revealed that the US intelligence agencies routinely intercept communications in Europe and Asia, including India. This, as the Centre for Internet and Society has pointed out, means that secret courts and court orders can be used by the CIA to gain access to the UID data, said the NitiCentral report.
The new Government faces a massive challenge to safeguard the privacy of its citizenry. A ‘Modi-fied’ Aadhaar could be the bedrock of welfare and entitlements reforms and targeted subsidies saving 1000s of crores to the Indian tax payer.
‘Modi-fying’ Aadhaar needs sound leadership and out of the box ideas.
While Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has hinted towards possibility of looking at the merger of the National Population Register (NPR) exercise and Aadhaar scheme during his first interaction with Ministry officials,the reality is that neither stale bureaucratic prescriptions nor conspiratorial thinking are useful.
A Modi-fied Aadhaar is a national imperative.