The confusion over Aadhaar's future has deepened and, to be resolved, will require ministerial intervention through the next week
Nitin Sethi, Surabhi Agarwal & Sahil Makkar | New Delhi July 3, 2014 Last Updated at 10:15 IST
The turf battle over Aadhaar continues under the National Democratic Alliance government, too. Three ministries have prepared separate Cabinet notes, chartering contradictory courses for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Consequently, the confusion over Aadhaar's future has deepened and, to be resolved, will require ministerial intervention through the next week.
The turf war started after Home Minister Rajnath Singh gave an in-principle approval for the full implementation of the Indian Citizenship Act, which required building the National Register of Indian Citizens. The decision was the first bugle announcing the end of enrolment by the UIDAI for Aadhaar numbers. To do so, it was decided the home ministry would move a series of Cabinet notes. It has put out a press release announcing this.
But it now transpires the UIDAI has sent a Cabinet note through its parent ministry, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, seeking approval to use the funds allocated to enrol another 300 million people. At the same time, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has prepared a Cabinet note, seeking to use the Aadhaar platform to run its proposed e-districts programme, meant to provide e-governance solutions to select districts initially. This implies a continuation of Aadhaar cards across new social schemes.
"Ideally, there should be one Cabinet note circulated by the key ministry to which all other concerned ministries put their comments and these are together sent for a decision by the Cabinet," a senior government official said. "A call will have to be taken on which of the three prevails and the contradictory views of the other ministries are appended to it for deliberations."
The confusion over UIDAI has created a peculiar situation for the month-old NDA government, with each department concerned approaching the issue from its controlling domain. The decision by the NDA Cabinet will need to address the future of the direct benefits transfer mechanism, which could involve more ministries.
"The UIDAI had political backing under the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), which it misses at the moment. With the Planning Commission being rudderless, the challenge is only greater, but it would be simply illogical to shut the only efficient subsidy delivery mechanism the government has at the moment," said an official involved with the UIDAI.
The UIDAI Cabinet note seeking funds to carry out work in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, if approved, will secure a stamp of approval by the NDA government to carry on enrolment across the country. This will be at cross-purposes with the home ministry's desire to be the only authority enrolling people for the citizenship register.
The proposed e-governance programme, on the other hand, requires a digital database and the Ministry of Communication and IT wants to deploy Aadhaar for this.
To add to the confusion on electronic databases, identity numbers and identity cards, several states have begun delivering their own schemes through different smart cards, too. "It's a problem this government has received in legacy from the UPA, which needs to be resolved. One shouldn't call it confusion, but reconciliation of a long pending contradiction," a senior government official told Business Standard.
The UIDAI-versus-National Population Register fight dates back to the period of constant turf battles between former home minister P Chidambaram and Nandan Nilekani, then in charge of Aadhaar. The Congress leadership's strong backing for Aadhaar had helped Nilekani prevail in part. Currently, Aadhaar enrolment stands at about 600 million.
But the UPA government was unable to pass a law to back the programme, instead running it by executive fiat. The programme was challenged in the Supreme Court through a slew of public interest litigation. The court restricted use of the databases and ordered it not be made mandatory for delivery of any government scheme. It is yet to pass a final order in the matter.
Before the NDA government gets down to deciding its position before the Supreme Court on Aadhaar, it will have to first draw a clear line at the ministerial level on the UIDAI's future. The contradictory Cabinet notes promise to precipitate the decision sooner rather than later
Consequently, the confusion over Aadhaar's future has deepened and, to be resolved, will require ministerial intervention through the next week.
The turf war started after Home Minister Rajnath Singh gave an in-principle approval for the full implementation of the Indian Citizenship Act, which required building the National Register of Indian Citizens. The decision was the first bugle announcing the end of enrolment by the UIDAI for Aadhaar numbers. To do so, it was decided the home ministry would move a series of Cabinet notes. It has put out a press release announcing this.
But it now transpires the UIDAI has sent a Cabinet note through its parent ministry, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, seeking approval to use the funds allocated to enrol another 300 million people. At the same time, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has prepared a Cabinet note, seeking to use the Aadhaar platform to run its proposed e-districts programme, meant to provide e-governance solutions to select districts initially. This implies a continuation of Aadhaar cards across new social schemes.
"Ideally, there should be one Cabinet note circulated by the key ministry to which all other concerned ministries put their comments and these are together sent for a decision by the Cabinet," a senior government official said. "A call will have to be taken on which of the three prevails and the contradictory views of the other ministries are appended to it for deliberations."
The confusion over UIDAI has created a peculiar situation for the month-old NDA government, with each department concerned approaching the issue from its controlling domain. The decision by the NDA Cabinet will need to address the future of the direct benefits transfer mechanism, which could involve more ministries.
"The UIDAI had political backing under the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), which it misses at the moment. With the Planning Commission being rudderless, the challenge is only greater, but it would be simply illogical to shut the only efficient subsidy delivery mechanism the government has at the moment," said an official involved with the UIDAI.
The UIDAI Cabinet note seeking funds to carry out work in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, if approved, will secure a stamp of approval by the NDA government to carry on enrolment across the country. This will be at cross-purposes with the home ministry's desire to be the only authority enrolling people for the citizenship register.
The proposed e-governance programme, on the other hand, requires a digital database and the Ministry of Communication and IT wants to deploy Aadhaar for this.
To add to the confusion on electronic databases, identity numbers and identity cards, several states have begun delivering their own schemes through different smart cards, too. "It's a problem this government has received in legacy from the UPA, which needs to be resolved. One shouldn't call it confusion, but reconciliation of a long pending contradiction," a senior government official told Business Standard.
The UIDAI-versus-National Population Register fight dates back to the period of constant turf battles between former home minister P Chidambaram and Nandan Nilekani, then in charge of Aadhaar. The Congress leadership's strong backing for Aadhaar had helped Nilekani prevail in part. Currently, Aadhaar enrolment stands at about 600 million.
But the UPA government was unable to pass a law to back the programme, instead running it by executive fiat. The programme was challenged in the Supreme Court through a slew of public interest litigation. The court restricted use of the databases and ordered it not be made mandatory for delivery of any government scheme. It is yet to pass a final order in the matter.
Before the NDA government gets down to deciding its position before the Supreme Court on Aadhaar, it will have to first draw a clear line at the ministerial level on the UIDAI's future. The contradictory Cabinet notes promise to precipitate the decision sooner rather than later
