While the Aadhaar itself has great potential, the fact that it was treated as a money bill should be a matter of great concern, writes Pratap Bhanu Mehta in The Indian Express. The Aadhaar bill has far-reaching implications and if it counts as a money bill, then nearly any legislation can be treated as a money bill as well, he writes. Also, it does not adequately address the issues of privacy in the age of technology.
On that score, the bill is an exercise in bad faith. The first reason is architectural. The national security exceptions in the bill are too broad. It negates all protections the bill seemingly provides. But, more importantly, let us say you do want a national security exception. Should the determination of this be left entirely to the bureaucracy and executive when they themselves will not be under any system of accountability? Admittedly, even our current safeguards are very weak. But as the risks of surveillance grow, we need to strengthen them rather than rely on specious arguments about the past.