13002 - The Emerging Aadhaar Regime Could Be Bad News for the BJP - The Wire

The Emerging Aadhaar Regime Could Be Bad News for the BJP

With the BJP being in power both in the Centre and most of the states, who do you think will face the voters' ire if Aadhaar-linked subsidies don’t reach beneficiaries?

A girl waits for her turn to enrol for Aadhaar at a registration centre in New Delhi. Credit: Reuters/Files

Udit Misra

GOVERNMENT

After several nerve-racking months of delay, a five-judge Supreme Court Bench delivered an interim order on the Aadhaar issue. Of course, this is not the final word. That is expected only later in the year. Yet, the interim order can describe the current state of play. The order is so intriguing that even days after the interim ruling, neither party – those who oppose the very idea of Aadhaar as well as those defending its universal usage – is sure whether it is winning or losing the debate.

That’s because the Supreme Court has, for the most part, made a clear distinction. If a person is getting social welfare from the government, he/she would have to get an Aadhaar. On the other hand, if a service is not linked to a government subsidy – say an existing bank account or mobile phone number or even the Permanent Account – then one doesn’t have to get an Aadhaar straightaway or get it linked by March 31. They can rest easy till the court comes up with the final order. A curious little exception has been made for opening new bank accounts and availing passports on a tatkal basis as both these services still mandatorily require Aadhaar.

Overall, this is a neat enough distinction. The relatively better-off Indians can sit back and relax. This is the class that has prioritised issues such as privacy, security of data and the freedom of choice. They seem to have been heard, at least for the time being. No more mandatory Aadhaar for them, unless the government can convince the court otherwise.

The other group includes the economically and socially marginalised people.

They obviously prioritise delivery of benefits. Privacy, choice and security of personal data are unlikely to be their main concern.

On the face of it, the interim ruling would appear to be a snub for those fighting against the very idea of Aadhaar. That’s because many consider the basic technical operations of Aadhaar – such as collection of biometrics – as unconstitutional and illegal. There are others who question Aadhaar on the grounds that it violates an individual’s right to privacy and a life of dignity. They have apprehensions about the state’s ability and intent to conduct unauthorised surveillance. Others question the infallibility of technology and how its failures could lead to exclusion of the needy especially when Aadhaar is linked to their legal entitlements. Then, there are those who question whether a government can – in a manner of speaking – violate one’s fundamental right to privacy as it dispenses social welfare to that person. Lastly, some like former finance minister P. Chidambaram question the manner in which the existing Aadhaar Act was passed in parliament as a money Bill.

As things stand, most of these worries are unlikely to derail the Aadhaar project. And that should be a cause for celebration for the BJP government and the Unique Identification Authority of India, since they were pushing for Aadhaar to be the centrepiece of everything possible in a person’s life. Frankly, if the government’s push is accepted in toto, parents can consider forgoing naming their kids and just wait for the UIDAI to generate the Aadhaar number for the new-borns.

But there’s a slip here. While there is no point speculating what the apex court may finally say, the fact is this: if the court stays on with this neat little distinction, the BJP government may find that it has lost out on both fronts.

If Aadhaar is not made mandatory for non-subsidy related services, it is likely that most people who do not depend on subsidies – the ones with the purchasing power in the economy – will stop using Aadhaar, thanks largely to the growing concerns about data privacy.

On the other hand, the government would be left with the onerous task of making Aadhaar work effectively for various social welfare schemes. Now, most of the evidence suggests that Aadhaar-related delivery is pretty shoddy. With the BJP being in power both in the Centre and most of the states, who do you think will face the voters’ ire if Aadhaar-linked subsidies don’t reach beneficiaries?

By arrangement with Business Standard.

5542 - Indian election to impact Aadhaar - Biometric Update

Indian election to impact Aadhaar

By Rawlson King

May 21, 2014 - 

The historic win of India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recent national election might result in changes to Aadhaar, the world’s biggest biometrics bank.

The Aadhaar program, governed by the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI), aims to enroll all of the country’s residents through biometrics, in order to distribute 12-digit identity cards for access to social programs. So far, the program has enrolled over 280 million residents, with an aim to enroll 400 million by the end of 2014.

The database is currently used for school attendance, natural gas subsidies to India’s rural poor, and to send wages directly to people’s bank accounts. The system, a landmark legacy project of India’s long ruling Congress Party, also provides identification to people who do not have birth certificates.

During the election campaign, the database was criticized by the BJP as a “failure” and a “waste of money”. Narendra Modi, the leader of the BJP and now India’s Prime Minister designate, slammed the biometric system as a “political gimmick”, openly questioning in the press whether the system adequately addresses control of migrants and national security concerns.

Much of this criticism was mainly politically motivated, since Nandan Nilekani, an Indian entrepreneur and bureaucrat, who served as a former UIDAI Chairman, contested the recent election as a high-profile Congress candidate for a parliamentary seat in Bangalore. In order to question Nilekani’s reputation, the BJP’s Modi launched a sharp attack on Congress Party’s role in the Aadhaar scheme, claiming that the system robbed the Indian treasury through excess expense and even through partisan corruption. The previous stage of Aadhaar implementation was budgeted at nearly US$630 million.

While initially heralded as a method to eliminate fraud, the system has been subjected to a number of severe criticisms. As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, several Indian banks have resisted the Aadhaar subsidy transfer system. The banks’ resistance to this platform was rooted in two main concerns: Banks wanted the UIDAI to bear liabilities related to false identifications, and the UIDAI wanted banks to reconfigure their existing systems to its inter-operable solution.

Also, India’s Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar numbers are not be mandatory for receiving government services. Many industry analysts have also been critical of Aadhaar’s administration, noting that it has not been efficient. As a result, expectation of changes to the system due to a changeover in government is warranted. The BJP however did not indicate whether they would reform or scrap the program. Indeed, Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat, actually did implement the system in his state. But as with many policy prescriptions during election campaigns, the BJP leveled criticism of the system without offering concrete solutions. Political analysts will watch closely to see what changes will be offered in the coming months.

5509 - Opposition ruled states should abandon biometric aadhaar, NPR to avoid civil war Written By Gopal Krishna -Toxic Watch

Opposition ruled states should abandon biometric aadhaar, NPR to avoid civil war

Written By Gopal Krishna on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 | 12:46 AM

http://www.toxicswatch.org/2014/04/opposition-ruled-states-should-abandon.html

Shouldn’t all BJP ruled states issue orders abandoning biometric aadhaar or plead guilty for complicity?

Non-BJP, non-Congress ruled states are yet to articulate their position on biometric identification of Indians  

April 30, 2014: Now that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi and BJP have realized the problems associated with aadhaar, shouldn’t all BJP ruled states like which have signed MoU for implementing biometric aadhaar Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat should issue orders abandoning biometric aadhaar. Besides these five states, the government of its alliance partners in Punjab and Puducherry should also consider doing so. There is logical compulsion for Modi and BJP and its allies to announce that they will destroy some 57 crore aadhaar numbers that have been generated by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the way it was done by current coalition government in UK. Meanwhile, Supreme Court is hearing the contempt application against the implementation of aadhaar despite its order.

In these seven states BJP and its allies should act against aadhaar and NPR to show other parties that BJP and its alliance partners practice what they preach. BJP does not have alliance with ruling parties in nine states have Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The stance of these nine States vis-à-vis biometric aadhaar and NPR is far from clear. These non-BJP, non-Congress ruled states including those from the left are yet to articulate their position on biometric identification of Indians. In rest of States, it is the Congress which is the ruling party and the Chief Ministers are too servile in the current system of ‘internal democracy’ within the party to take an independent position although unlike Modi most have saved themselves from biometric identification.   

Meanwhile, February 4, 2014, PIB release announced that Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (CCUIDAI) has approved reallocation of States for aadhaar enrolment. “It was decided that in four States, which are, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, UIDAI will carry out the enrolment exercise in addition to enrolment carried out by the Registrar General of India (RGI); and that UIDAI and RGI will work out modalities to ensure that there is no duplication in collection of biometrics. It was further decided that enrolments by UIDAI will commence immediately and that UIDAI will separately submit financial proposals to the Ministry of Finance in respect of the additional enrolments.” While the silence of ruling parties of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is understandable given their explicit or implicit alliance with Congress, the silence of Raman Singh, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh and other BJP-NDA chief ministers appear to be an act of collusion with Congress party’s aadhaar project.

Ram Sewak Sharma, the man who seems to have misled Narendra Modi, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate into implementing biometric data based unique identification based Aadhaar number in Gujarat has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) after the retirement of the current incumbent on April 30. 

Notably, since its inception DEITY has been the line ministry for the implementation of UID/aadhaar and for National Population Register (NPR). Sharma is the former Director General of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) between August 2009 and March 2013 is currently Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand. In contempt of Supreme Court’s order against aadhaar he chose to implement aadhaar project in Jharkhand.

Sharma his role as Director General, UIDAI biometrically profiled Modi on May 1, 2012, Sharma “took the biometric fingerprints of Mr Modi for his identity card and registered him under the project” as per the website of Narendra Modi. (Source:   http://www.narendramodi.in/cm-kicks-off-uid-project-in-gujarat/ ).

The Economic Times revealed that although belated Modi has learnt that he was taken for a ride with regard to the implementation of aadhaar in Gujarat.  But how will he respond to the charge of complicity with Congress in subjecting Indians to surveillance through aadhaar project from 2009 till Supreme Court’s order.

But earlier, on March 25, 2010 Gujarat’s General Administration Department (GAD) issued a Resolution constituting a State Cabinet Council under the Chairmanship of Modi for overseeing the implementation of aadhaar in Gujarat. Notably, UIDAI officials held a meeting with Modi on December 8, 2009 along with Gujarat officials.

On June 9, 2010 Gujarat government entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UIDAI.  The Gujarat GAD decided to include additional fields of information under aadhaar such as PAN no., Voter I-card no., ration card no., BPL card no., Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana no., disability-related data and LPG or PNG connection details. In August 2011, Gujarat Government made failure to record additional information liable for punitive action. In December 2011, the GAD sought inclusion of household numbers issued to residents of urban slums in the database. In fact Gujarat Government sought financial assistance of Rs. 50/aadhaar number created in Gujarat but it was refused by the central government.

Given the fact that BJP has admitted by implication that it was misled by officials like Sharma, is it too much to expect that it will undertake mid course correction beyond issuing statement disapproving of aadhaar project. Sources have informed that the party faces difficulty in announcing its scrapping because contracts for implementation of aadhaar project were given to those companies which are close to senior party officials.

BJP and other non-Congress opposition parties do not realize that like Ivory Coast, a civil war can happen in India too because of biometric and electronic identification. All the international agencies, which are involved in promotion of unique identification (UID) through Planning Commission, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Election Commission of India (EC), residential addresses and land titles in India were involved there as well. Likes of LK Advani, P Chidambram, Nandan Nilekani, Sam Pitroda and C Chandramouli have been advocating national identity cards as if “everyday forms of identity surveillance” is natural and rational.

How is it that when heads of states are put under round the clock surveillance by colonial and imperial powers it is deemed an assault on national sovereignty but when a national government undertakes the same over their masters, the citizens, it becomes natural and rational.

A communication titled ‘Biometrics Stir the Pot in the UAE’ dated 22 November 2003, sent by some unidentified US official from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Group Destinations Arab Israeli Collective, Secretary of State, US and Dubai, UAE and to undecipherable location named ‘RUCNFSC CFSC SA COLLECTIVE’ merits attention.  This communication was brought to light by Wikileaks. Its import can be appreciated only if its following text is read:

“The Public Affairs and Consular Section in Abu Dhabi hosted a Press Briefing on the fingerprinting of NIV applicants at the US Embassy. In addition, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) and Consular Chief briefed the Director of Consular Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on the new Fingerprinting Procedures at the Embassy. Newspapers published accurate, informational stories and the Director of Consular Affairs expressed his understanding. Although one UAE official has refused to be fingerprinted saying he was being treated like a "Criminal," the UAE's majority Third-Country Nationals (TCN) are taking it all in stride, already subject to fingerprinting and retinal scans by the UAE and Emirate-level Governments.”NIV stands for Non-Immigrant Visas (NIV).

This reporting of UAE’s response to fingerprinting and retinal scans sounds like the reaction of different ministries of Government of India and Indian media, most of whom like their UAE’s counterparts did “accurate, informational stories.” But unlike the one official in UAE, who refused to be fingerprinted, in India, one did not learn about any civil servant who refused to enroll for biometric identification in the pronounced manner.

  

The communication further revealed that a foreign team installed fingerprinting collection devices on 23 October 2003 at the interview windows in conjunction with the consular section's routine computer upgrade schedule. After the installation, the consular section began collecting fingerprints from the required NIV applicants on 2 November 2003.

It is noteworthy that US embassy officials are reporting even the work of plumbers of fingerprint machines and installation of biometric devices to Secretary of State and their intelligence allies in Arab States, Israel and to undecodable locations. Do Indian officials, senior political leaders and concerned citizens realize its import?

The Wikileaked communication informs that journalists and photographers from all UAE’s English and Arabic dailies were called for briefing them “about the new biometric collection procedures” so that public is informed about it. This communication informs: “journalists focused primarily on the appropriateness of fingerprinting and questioned whether or not the fingerprinting was focused on Arab and Muslim audiences. Vice Consul responded that this was not the case, and, as reassurance, showed journalists the stacks of old computers the Orkand team has just finished replacing with new Pentium IV systems. (Comment: we recommend other posts do the same if possible, as this seemed convincing to the journalists present.)”

It goes on report that following this briefing to media, on 6 November 2003, journalists published stories based on the information provided to them including “the implementation of fingerprinting solely based on routine maintenance schedules and mentioning Frankfurt, Brussels, San Salvador, and Guatemala City as the first Fingerprinting Posts.”

This shows how journalists are/ were taken for a ride because they were made to believe that it was just a routine case of replacing old equipments with new equipments. It appears that the same tactics has been replicated in India in the matter of Aadhaar, National Population Register (NPR) and other places where biometric identification is being made mandatory.

On 9 November 2003, there was a meeting with the Director of Consular Affairs at the UAE‘s MFA, wherein the Director expressed “his understanding of the need to move towards biometrics to enhance the security of the United States. He briefly commented on the retinal scans in place at UAE ports of entry for certain categories of visitors to the UAE, in particular workers from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. He expressed satisfaction that fingerprinting did not apply to A- 1 and A-2 visa categories.”

It is clear yet again that the biometric devices are getting installed not because of any domestic compulsion of the Asian or African countries but because countries like US want it installed. This also demonstrates that those wielding diplomatic and official immunity do not hesitate to barter away their citizens’ rights if their temporary individual rights and privileges remain intact.

   

This cable from US embassy in UAE records that “public reaction to the initiation of fingerprinting of NIV applicants has been mixed. The UAE population is more disturbed by the prospect of fingerprinting than the UAE's majority TCN population. Consular staff have not received complaints from TCN applicants, who have their fingerprints taken for residence visas and IDs by federal and emirate-level governments. Certain TCNs are also subject to retinal scans at UAE airports.” The TCN population refers to Third-Country Nationals. A TCN is an employee who is not a citizen of the home or host countries.

It reads “Reaction by UAE nationals, on the other hand, remains mixed. The vast majority of UAE national student and tourist visa applicants have complied quietly and calmy when requested for their fingerprints. The prospect for turmoil with government officials and prominent UAE nationals, however, remains to be seen. One UAE senior university administrator official, the subject of a Class A Visa referral, refused to come to the embassy and told pas staff that he "would not be treated like a criminal." This reaction only stresses the continuing need to inform applicants that biometric capture capability not only enhances national border security to the benefit of US citizens and permanent residents, but increases the safety and security of visitors to the United States as well.”The communication reveals that promoters of biometric devices were expecting some “turmoil” but as things unfolded they were happy to witness unquestioned obedience of government officials and prominent UAE nationals like in India.

A secret cable, which was created on 17 December 2009 and Wikileaked on the 23 April 2011 revealed that like in UAE, the US’ State Department is deeply curious about UID, India's biometric data based identification program. It asked its embassy in India to provide information about the progress or status of the Indian biometric ID card's development and deployment and wished to know “India's strategic plan for utilizing biometric ID card technology in the military, law enforcement, and private sectors.”

It sought to know as to which government agencies will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the national ID card biometric collection strategy, how do authorities plan to utilise the biometric ID card at India's borders, ports, and airports, which foreign countries and/or corporations are assisting in the development of the ID card, which biometric systems (i.e. fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scan, etc.) will be incorporated into the card, what prompted development of the ID card, which company is providing the biometric collection devices, storage, and matching database equipment, which organizations/agencies within India will have access to information gathered by the biometric ID card collection devices, what systems, databases, or portals will the named biometric ID card collection devices in India communicate with, will the ID card be accepted for passport applications, what types of anti-fraud measures do Indian authorities plan to incorporate in the issuance process and what security features are planned for the ID card, will the card be International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) compliant and will it use any encryption and any efforts to "spoof" or defeat biometric enrollment, such as fingerprint alteration.

The cable asked these questions but it prefaced it with few observations. It reads: “Washington analysts read with keen interest recent press reports about a proposed biometric national ID project in India …the project has been billed at recent trade conferences as the largest biometric enrollment ever proposed and is the biggest biometric  initiative anticipated in 2010.  Despite promised improvements, the cards would provide, analysts are concerned the program could present a vulnerable target for regional extremist groups -- such as Lashkar e-Tayyiba -- who could obtain fraudulent Indian ID cards during the large-scale enrollment for use in travel or as breeder documents to apply for passports.”

This cable gives the impression that US agencies have been following the project from its incubation stage.

It underlined that with regard to answers to the questions posed that “results of these requirements will be incorporated into a strategic assessment for senior US policymakers on the regional implications in South Asia of the biometric ID program.”

Another cable dated 4 September 2008 released by Wikileaks reveals that US Ambassador to India met with Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on 2 September 2008 wherein the name of would be chief of UID/ Aadhaar, Nandan Nileakni figured for a Sub-group of US-India CEO Forum for educational collaboration which was to provide a report after the elections. Notably, this cable from New Delhi was sent to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Council, Secretary of Defense among others. Notably, Nileakni was one of the eight members of National Knowledge Commission (NKC) headed by Sam Pitroda who advocates identification and tagging of every object in India through his Public Information Infrastructure initiative.

US Embassy’s cable for the week of 29th June to 2 July 2009 notes that the UID “project is expected to cost about Rs1,500 billion ($31.5 billion), and technological challenges in creating tamper-proof smart cards capable of handling Indian conditions are expected. According to press reports, the GoI may exclude private companies from participating due to the large amount of confidential information involved in the program. The public sector company Bharat Electronics Ltd has already issued over 120,000 smart cards under a GoI pilot project to establish a multipurpose national identity card, and is likely to be one of the key players.” It is noteworthy that eventually Indian government did not exclude private companies.

With regard to the National Smart Card Identification System, the wikileaked cables reveal that “Joint Secretary (Telecom) JS Deepak told Econoffs that the first meeting between Additional Secretary of Department of Telecom Subodh Kumar, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and founder of Infosys, and Indian telecom service providers was held on 24th September to discuss the roll-out of the unique identification (UID) program. Earlier this year, the GoI set up the UIDAI to implement a Unique Identification card project, which will own the database of residents along with their biometric information….Joint Secretary Deepak noted that despite the inherent challenges posed by the massive scale of this program, the introduction of UID will transform the way Indians do business in the areas of Government-to-Citizen interaction. He said the ID would be useful for a multitude of purposes, including elections, taxation, national security, and banking. Deepak, a former USAID employee responsible for global social programs, was enthusiastic about the UID's potential to greatly reduce 'leakage' in government subsidies and benefit payments, including the NREGA program, and for its ability to also transform provision of education and healthcare.” Econoffs refers to US Embassy’s Economic Office. This communication was sent from New Delhi as part of its report for week of 21st to 24 September 2009. It is noteworthy that Deepak’s credential as former employee of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been mentioned. Earlier, Bolivia and Russia have expelled USAID from their countries. In Pakistan in protest against drone strike there Pakistani Punjab government has refused to accept US aid.  Recently, Associated Press has revealed that USAID’s Chief Rajiv Shah who is reportedly considered a possible candidate for the post of US Ambassador to India supervised Cuban twitter like program- ‘ZunZuneo’-using front companies based in Cayman Islands and other places for cooking unrest there. Interestingly, the $1.6 million spent on it was channeled in the name of an unspecified project in Pakistan since 2009.

The role of Ministry of Telecom in conceptualizing or launching UID program under A Raja’s tenure as its minister merits examination.

While the background behind the operationalization of the biometric ID project reveals the opaque manner in which it took off, ramifications of launch of such projects demonstrates its true colours.

In the book, Paper Citizens, its author Kamal Sadiq records, “In Ivory Coast, a national identity card scheme was central to a national politics that slid into civil war”. This issue became a major factor in the civil war given the fact that ruling party and opposition party held diametrically opposite views on documentary citizenship.

The insistence of documentary citizenship based on national identity card has also given birth to the business of fake identity cards, identity thefts and imposters.

Dwelling on the situation in African countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Zambia, in a 2001 paper “Disenfranchising the North through the National Identity Card scheme” Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa, general editor of Weekly PYRAMID – The Magazine said, “In most of the organized world identity cards have never been election requirements” and concluded, “The ID card is a much more benign form of genocide if it gets to pass.”

The distinguishing identity of citizens and non-citizens is getting blurred because of the idea of documentary citizenship based on biometric identification being deeply planted by US and EU based security agencies and companies. This leads to creation and naturalization of 24X7 continental and transboundary surveillance on human movement that opens the possibility wherein national ID card would be a ticket to the loss of much of personal freedom and intergenerational and intra generational rights.

Non-Congress government that is all set to take charge of the national affairs will have to take a pledge that they will not be subjecting citizens to biometric surveillance through the ongoing merger of aadhaar, NPR Voter ID card and the Electronic Voting Machines. The servility of the previous regime towards agencies like US National Security Agency (NSA) and their infantile reactions in the face of evidence that the entire union cabinet was under NSA’s surveillance must be remembered as one of the dark chapters of Indian history. In its abject meekness Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) did not hide even an iota of information from the NSA but it is reluctant to share its correspondence with Nilekani under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

For Details: Gopal Krishna, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties (CFCL), Mb: 08227816731, 09818089660, E-mail:gopalkrishna1715@gmail.com

5455 - BJP to review Aadhaar if voted to power: Rajnath - Deccan herald

BJP to review Aadhaar if voted to power: Rajnath

Dalip Singh NEW DELHI: April11, 2014 DHNS

After committing to scrap foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in its poll manifesto, the BJP has put a question mark on the fate of another UPA flagship programme Aadhaar that provides unique identity number to citizens, saying that it would “review” the project if it comes to power at the Centre.

The UPA government was using Aadhaar platform for direct transferring of subsidies but the move got stuck after the Supreme Court in March ordered that the scheme cannot be made mandatory for availing government social welfare benefits.   

BJP president Rajnath Singh told Deccan Herald in an interview that, “We will review Aadhaar project if BJP-led NDA comes to power and look into its flaws. Instead of Aadhaar, National Population Register should be the basis of distributing direct cash benefits to targeted people.”  While Aadhaar can be obtained by a resident of the country, only a citizen is entitled to get the NPR registration.
The NPR concept was floated by the previous NDA regime.

The BJP’s contention has been that any attempt to identify people should be aimed at weeding out “infiltrators” which Aadhaar fails to ensure. Even Rajnath hinted towards that when he said that the “infiltrators’ population has also gone up in the country”.

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has also tried to make a political capital out of what he claims are the shortcomings of the delivery mechanism instrument.  He had recently scoffed at Nandan Nilakani, the brain behind the Aadhaar project and Congress candidate from South Bangalore, while addressing a political rally in Bangalore. 

Modi sarcastically remarked that Congress is fielding a candidate who had no ‘aadhaar’ (no support) against BJP’s Ananth Kumar.

 He had also recalled writing several letters to the prime minister pointing out fissures in the scheme that “is detrimental” to national security but there was no response.

The BJP leaders said that there was no consensus on the virtues of the scheme within the government as well.

The parliamentary committee on finance, headed by BJP MP Yashwant Sinha, had given a report pointing out several infirmities in the Aadhaar bill introduced in Lok Sabha about two years back.

 The UPA government, since then, did not act get back to parliament on the issues raised.
The apex court is still to settle a bunch of petitions questioning Aadhaar’s constitutional validity on the ground that it was not backed by any statute.

Though BJP’s 2014 manifesto clearly stated that it was not in favour of the FDI in retail, the opposition party wants to carry forward other pro-poor schemes including right to food.

5388 - Attack on Aadhaar: Nilekani complains to EC against Ananth - First Post

Attack on Aadhaar: Nilekani complains to EC against Ananth

Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and face of the Aadhaar programme, charged that Kumar was trying to gain mileage by abusing a government programme like Aadhaar.




Nandan Nilekani. Image courtesy PIB

26 Mar 15:57 pm IST

Bangalore: Stung by attacks on Aadhaar scheme by BJP's Ananth Kumar, Congress candidate for Bangalore South Lok Sabha seat Nandan Nilekani has complained to EC against him, accusing him of being part of "pro-corruption and anti-development forces".

Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and face of the Aadhaar programme, charged that Kumar was trying to gain mileage by abusing a government programme like Aadhaar which he was himself promoting only a few months ago.

"I have said from the beginning that I am running a clean, honest campaign because I stand for a better kind of politics. My opponent is not doing the same," he said in his personal blog here today, piqued by Kumar repeatedly attacking and mocking at the Aadhar programme in his campaign.

Nilekani, who also complained to Press Council of India against his opponent on Tuesday, said Kumar was attacking Aadhaar to draw attention away from his lack of achievements.

"Just one question on Aadhaar the entire time he (Kumar) was in Parliament. And now, why this sudden concern? Just a few months ago, he was advertising himself on Aadhaar enrolment banners in Bangalore South. Once I entered politics however, he began to attack the programme," he said.

It was sad that Kumar is doing this because he has no good record to defend, Nilekani said. "Now, he is using Modi to try and get elected because he has nothing to say about himself. He is attacking Aadhaar to draw attention away from his own lack of achievements," he said.

"Kumar is part of the pro-corruption, anti-development forces who are trying to discredit a powerful anti-corruption effort, one that will empower ordinary citizens across the country," Nilekani said.

"The UIDAI never said that the number was mandatory." Nilekani, who resigned as Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, after taking the political plunge recently, said.

"This is another.... falsehood that my opponent is spreading. Rather some government agencies may decide to make the number mandatory to remove leakages and fraud in their systems."

The ruling from the Supreme Court yesterday was in response to a motion filed by UIDAI itself, since the agency didn't want to share resident data for a criminal investigation, Nilekani said.

"The Supreme Court upheld the position of UIDAI.The UIDAI has always valued the privacy of resident data and the agency went to the courts to ensure that people's privacy is protected," he said

5386 - Nandan Nilekani embarrasses BJP over aadhaar - Deccan Chronicle

Nandan Nilekani embarrasses BJP over aadhaar

DC CORRESPONDENT | March 28, 2014, 05.03 am IST

Photographs released by Nandan Nilekani show BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi getting his eyes scanned to register for the UIDAI.

Bengaluru: Making it clear that he would not take attacks on his pet Aadhaar project lightly, Congress  candidate for Bengaluru South, Nandan Nilekani  on Thursday came out with guns blazing at the “irresponsible and inaccurate comments” of his opponent , senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar on the scheme.

“There are some of us who are keen to do hard, honest work for our city and our country, while Mr Kumar is busy politicking, embroiling himself in scams, and trying to demean other people or take credit for their work,” he said in a statement.

“My opponent’s dishonesty on Aadhaar  goes against the comments of his own party leaders,” Mr Nilekani added, recalling that political parties across the spectrum had accepted Aadhaar as a pro-development, anti-corruption effort.

5371 - ‘SC verdict on Aadhaar a slap in the face of UPA - The Hindu

KARNATAKA

BANGALORE, March 25, 2014

‘SC verdict on Aadhaar a slap in the face of UPA

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Recover the money spent on it from Nilekani: Ashok

Terming the Supreme Court’s order against making Aadhaar card mandatory for citizens to get any of the services as a “slap” in the face of the UPA government and the Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI) former chairman Nandan Nilekani, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the UIDAI affairs.

Addressing a press conference here, the former Deputy Chief Minister R. Ashok charged Mr. Nilekani with wasting Rs. 50,000 crore on the Aadhaar card project and demanded that the money be recovered from him.

Dropping hints that the BJP would use the Supreme Court order against Aadhaar to attack Mr. Nilekani, who is contesting on the Congress ticket against BJP leader Ananth Kumar from Bangalore South, Mr. Ashok said, “such a person who has squandered Rs. 50,000 crore is not eligible to contest from Bangalore.”

Alleging that Aadhaar cards had been given to illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh, Mr. Ashok accused Mr. Nilkani of “posing a threat to the country’s security.”

5360 - Why Indians should be thankful to SC for killing the Aadhaar - First Post

Firstpost India 

Why Indians should be thankful to SC for killing the Aadhaar 

by G Pramod Kumar Mar 25, 2014 

#Aadhaar #BJP #Cash transfer #CBI #Congress #ConnectTheDots #IMF #Nandan Nilekani #Planning Comission #Supreme Court #UIDAI inShare 2 179 CommentsEmailPrint 

After a messed up three-year process and running through Rs 11,000 crore, the great discovery of a unique identity number for each Indian is practically dumped with the Supreme Court verdict that on Monday disallowed the government from sharing data with the CBI. Moreover, a sting operation by Cobrapost revealed that the process is riddled with holes with practically anybody, even illegal immigrants, can obtain a unique Indian ID by paying bribes. 

The main uses of the unique ID, also called Aadhaar, were two: biometric data of bonafide Indian citizens (that could have been used by a number of government agencies for a variety of reasons including fight against terror and criminal investigations) and possibility of direct transfer of various subsidies as cash to the beneficiaries. Of course, the Aadhaar authorities haven’t yet said that they would share the biometric data with anyone and even appeared to be against the idea. In many cases the biometrics could have been misused. 

The Supreme Court order on Monday was two pronged - one, don’t share biometric data with any third party (say CBI) without the consent of the the registered person (the Indian citizen); and two, don’t exclude anybody any service or benefit because they don’t have an Aadhaar card. In a single stroke, the multibillion dollar project Aadhaar fell flat on its face. So the Aadhaar, as many predicted, becomes a badly produced photo-ID card which has absolutely no extra value that a driving license or passport has. It’s not even as useful as a ration card or a voter ID card because they have specific purposes. 

Going by what the BJP has said about the card in the past, the whole process is most likely to be scrapped altogether. The critics of the Aadhaar has always maintained that the agency engaged in the process, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), might share the  biometric information of people with other government agencies thereby violating people’s right to privacy. They also thought that using the biometric data, people might be singled out, tracked, harassed and have their rights violated. As it happened in the case on which the Supreme Court passed orders on Monday, the CBI might ask for data from the UIDAI for investigation even though the citizens of the country voluntary gave their biometrics for social benefits and national identification, and not to be subjected to investigation.

Right from the beginning, rights activists had raised this issue, but the architect of the Aadhaar Nandan Nilekani, who is now a Congress politician, as well as the UPA government brandished the cost-benefit analysis of the card. "Even after taking all costs into account, and making modest assumptions about leakages, of about 7-12 percent of the value of the transfer/subsidy, we find that the Aadhaar project would yield an internal rate of return in real terms of 52.85 percent to the government,” said the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in its cost-benefit analysis in November 2012. The cost of building Aadhaar and integrating it with the government schemes was estimated at Rs 37,182 crores, said the government. Besides its proposed tangible results such as avoidance of leakages and lower transaction costs, it also claimed intangible benefits such as empowerment, inclusion and labour mobility. 

But what rolled out over the last three years was a messy process although Nilekani claims that 60 crore people have been issued the card. Media reports showed that at many places, it failed to capture biometrics because many people involved in hard labour didn't have either usable finger prints or irises. In addition, the way the enrolment was outsourced led to faulty processes and corruption as the Cobrapost sting revealed on Monday. People who have enrolled can vouch for the deep holes in the process because of the ease with which they could change addresses and other data. The data entry also was replete with faults that resulted in names and addresses having to be corrected over and over again. Anyway, that’s about the efficiency of the process. The real story is about its utility. The problem with the Aadhaar is that it was a technocratic fix to an international prescription to correct an Indian problem of leakages. It belongs to the cash transfer club - the fiscal deficit obsessed internationalists such as IMF and World Bank, and neo-liberals which like liquid cash rather than tangible social protection services. 

Cash is good for the market and can also put an end to age-old public distribution systems and social support in kind. Cash is an easier instrument to handle. For cash transfer to function, this club requires a better identification system and associated bank accounts. The cat was out of the bag, when a recent IMF publication appreciated the work of the UIDAI. There is no other reason why every citizen of a large, complex and federal country such as India necessarily needs a national identification system. At best, it should have been an opt-in process in which people who feel like taking a national ID - similar to a passport - could opt for one. The problem with Nilekani’s model was that it was imposed on people - who didn’t want it - with an ulterior motive, the motive of collecting their biometrics and playing with their rightful entitlements to please the cash transfer apostles. Thankfully the Supreme Court order has asked both Nilekani and the UPA to take a walk in the park. This should have been the logical end of Aadhaar and it should have happened earlier because it could have saved a lot of money and people’s hardship. It’s for the government to decide whether it still wants to move ahead with the process now that the apex court has rendered it useless for the purposes it was built. The BJP had problems with the card, particularly since it violated the right to privacy. Given the party’s proclivity to take impetuous steps in handling law and order and terror, they might find the biometric data of people useful in a number ways. Will it stick to its earlier stand and junk it, or engage in some double speak and use it against people? Additionally, some of the economists that are waiting jump in, once the NDA is in power, are more right-wing than all the neo-liberals we have seen so far. They might find Aadhaar useful for cash transfers. Either way - whether the BJP goes ahead or not - for practical purposes the Aadhaar is junked. Every Indian should thank the Supreme Court for that

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-indians-should-be-thankful-to-sc-for-killing-the-aadhaar-1449529.html?utm_source=ref_article

5316 - BJP moves Election Commission against LIC scheme aimed at 'helping' Nandan Nilekani

BJP moves Election Commission against LIC scheme aimed at 'helping' Nandan Nilekani

Friday, 14 March 2014 - 9:55pm IST | Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI

BJP on Friday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the LIC seeking a ban on its new scheme in Bangalore, alleging it is aimed at propagating the Aadhar card and helping Nandan Nilekani who is contesting Lok Sabha elections from there.

In a complaint to the EC, the BJP said the LIC has written to all zonal managers making it clear that no other conventional plans except "LIC-AADHAAR" be launched during the month of March 2014.

"This further confirms that the aim is to use this as a campaign tool for Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore. This will give an undue advantage to Nandan Nilekani and Congress in the present election and this is being routed through the LIC by central government pressures," said a complaint to the EC seeking action for cancellation of the scheme launch.

The complaint said the LIC is hurriedly coming out with a product-linked with Aadhaar card and that too during the election period, which is against election code of conduct.

BJP leader R Ramakrishna said this plan is linked to Aadhaar card when all other services are exempted from use of Aadhaar card including direct credit of LPG subsidy.

"Aadhaar card is being used as a poll subject during the election period as the so-called founder of Aadhaar, Nandan Nilekani, is now a candidate for Congress party and contesting from Bangalore South Lok sabha constituency," the BJP said.

The LIC Chairman is launching the new plan at Bangalore on March 20. 

5276 - BJP to complain against Nilekani with EC over Aadhaar ads - IBN Live

BJP to complain against Nilekani with EC over Aadhaar ads

CNN-IBN | Mar 07, 2014 at 06:08pm IST

The Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to lodge a complaint against UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani with the Election Commission. The party said the complaint is against the advertisements of Aadhaar that are appearing despite the election code of conduct set in place.

The complaint is against the advertisements of Aadhar that are appearing despite the election code of conduct set in place.

Nilekani, who is likely to get a Congress ticket from Bangalore South constituency, has launched an advertisement campaign in print, TV and online ahead of elections. Some of his advertisements have details of Aadhaar and his achievements as the UIDAI chairman.

Nilekani will fight against BJP leader and five time MP Ananthkumar.

5126 - Aadhaar-linked transfer of LPG subsidy on hold; cylinder cap hiked to 12 - Live Mint

Aadhaar-linked transfer of LPG subsidy on hold; cylinder cap hiked to 12

The government suspended the transfer until a new committee created to analyse the scheme submits its report

Prashant K. Nanda  |  Kirthi V Rao  |  Gaurav Jain 

The move comes days after Rahul Gandhi, vice president of the ruling Congress party, had demanded raising the ceiling. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

New Delhi: The government on Thursday increased the number of subsidized cooking gas cylinders per household to 12 from nine per year and suspended the transfer of the subsidy to bank accounts linked to Aadhaar unique identity numbers in another bow to populism ahead of a general election only three months away.

Households will get two additional subsidized cylinders in the year ending March and one subsidized cylinder every month starting in April.

The move comes after sustained pressure from the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi demanded that the cap be raised to 12 at the All-India Congress Committee meeting on 17 January. Raising the limit would increase the subsidy by Rs.5,000 crore per year.

Transfer of the cooking gas subsidy to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts has been suspended until a committee created to analyse the scheme, including administrative and technical difficulties, submits its report. There have been complaints about the scheme from beneficiaries who don’t have linked bank accounts. Consumers will pay the subsidized price to oil marketing companies, who will receive the subsidy from the government, oil minister M. Veerappa Moily said.

“Since there have been representations coming from across the country to the petroleum ministry, it has been decided that the Aadhaar-linked programme for reimbursing the subsidy will be looked into by a committee,” information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said after a meeting of the Union cabinet.

The scheme to transfer welfare payments directly to bank accounts requires accounts linked to Aadhaar numbers so that only an individual identified in beneficiary databases receive the payment. Tewari clarified that only the direct transfer of the cooking gas subsidy has been put on hold and the scheme will continue for other welfare payments such as scholarships.

“The entire ambit of the Aadhaar-linked scheme will be analysed and we will revert to the old system where the consumer has to pay the subsidized price. The 1.7 crore (17 million) people linked to the (direct transfer) paradigm will also get cylinders at subsidized prices,” Tewari said,

The Congress, which has faced popular resentment over the government’s failure to contain inflation, has recently assessed that its support base among women voters—a section that has stood by the 128-year-old party consistently—had diminished because of measures such as the cap on subsidized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.

Chief ministers of Congress-ruled states had sought the intervention of the party vice-president, who in turn, had asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consider the demands for de-linking the supply of subsidized cooking gas from the Aadhaar numbers and increasing the number of subsidized cylinders.

“Rahulji (Rahul Gandhi) is a people’s representative. If he says something, it is taken seriously. It’s not an election-related decision,” Tewari said when asked if the government had taken the decision because Gandhi had made the demand.

The decision comes ahead of the general election due by May in which the Congress party, buffeted by corruption scandals, public disenchantment over the economic downturn and persistently high inflation, faces an uphill battle against a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman said the decision was “political” and that the government had “messed up the whole thing”.

Aadhaar has no legal backing because it had not been created by Parliament, she said, adding that the government could not make the unique identity numbers compulsory for the delivery of welfare benefits. She noted that even the Supreme Court had raised questions on it.

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is executing the Aadhaar project, said the matter had nothing to do with it.

“This is a change in the manner of delivering the LPG subsidy,” said A.P. Singh, deputy director general. “It is not a UIDAI matter at all.”

Increasing the subsidized cylinder cap to 12 will benefit middle-class and low-income families, said Allahabad-based political analyst Badri Narayan.

“I don’t see it as populist but a big relief for many families. The government was hesitant to do it because of the financial burden, but after Rahul Gandhi pushed for it, the government took the decision,” he said. “Rahul Gandhi must have got feedback from people after Congress lost (in four state) assembly elections. LPG cylinder was certainly an issue for people.”

Raising the LPG subsidy and not raising diesel prices will hurt the economy, according to Arvind Virmani, a former chief economic adviser in the finance ministry and president of not-for-profit organization Chintan.

“This will also prove to be bad for inflation and the current account deficit and would also mean that monetary policy tightening will have to continue, which is not good news for economic growth,” he said. “The government needs to tighten consumption as well as revenue deficit for RBI (Reserve Bank of India) to loosen monetary policy, but the government is going in the opposite direction.”

The cabinet decision comes even as the government is facing multiple challenges to its scheme to transfer welfare payments directly to bank accounts of beneficiaries. On 23 September, the Supreme Court passed a temporary order that was widely seen as challenging the programme that makes Aadhaar-linked bank accounts the only way to receive subsidies and payments.

The court asked government agencies and states to reply to the contention of a batch of petitions filed against the Aadhaar programme’s continuance in the absence of a law.

“No person should suffer for not getting the Aadhaar card in spite of the fact that some authority had issued a circular making it mandatory and when any person applies to get the Aadhaar card voluntarily, it may be checked whether that person is entitled for it under the law and it should not be given to any illegal immigrant,” the court said.

The decision to put the scheme on hold may hinder the process of linking all 140 million cooking gas customers link their bank accounts with their unique identity numbers. “The customers who were coming to get their records updated may not come now though the government has only suspended and not cancelled the direct transfer scheme,” said P.N. Seth, executive vice-president of the All India LPG Distributors Federation. “The oil marketing companies will have to modify the software for billing customers according to the new system where there will be two more free cylinders this year.”

Indian Oil Corp. Ltd, the largest seller of cooking gas cylinders, declined to comment. “We are yet to get the notification,” its spokesperson said. “We will have to study it.”

The sudden decision came even as a suggestion for extending the grace period for receiving the subsidy through Aadhaar-linked bank accounts by about six months in order not to inconvenience consumers was about to be made, said a government official aware of the matter. The official declined to be named.

In another development, the cabinet on Thursday approved work on the Bangalore Metro Rail Project’s second phase that will entail an investment of Rs.26,405.14 crore. The Union government will contribute Rs.5,281 crore and the government of Karnataka’s share will be Rs.8,983 crore. The rest will be raised through debt.

The cabinet also gave its approval for making amendments in the central list of Other Backward Classes in respect of 13 states by way of inclusion, correction and deletion of castes and communities according to advice received from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The amendments will notify 115 changes recommended by the NCBC.

The cabinet also approved the Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, which among its many provisions proposes to decriminalize suicide and gives every person the right to access to free mental healthcare and treatment funded by the government. Even though the Bill has been given the cabinet’s nod, there are still certain technical issues that are being worked out.

Aadhaar-linked transfer of LPG subsidy was put on hold while LPG cap was hiked from 9 to 12.

Meanwhile, a ministerial panel on Thursday approved an increase in the fixed cost of urea by Rs.350 a tonne, yielding to a long-sought industry demand but pushing up the government’s subsidy bill by Rs.900 crore. The approval came from a group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar.

The fixed cost of urea has remained unchanged since 2002-03. For a urea plant, fixed cost mainly comprises establishment cost, annual maintenance cost, working capital, salaries and interest. It is up to 20% of the total production cost.

“Although the industry demanded a hike of Rs.700 per tonne, we are happy with this 50% relief and look forward for further reforms,” said Satish Chander, director general of the Fertiliser Association of India, an industry lobby that has been urging the ministry to raise the fixed cost.

prashant.n@livemint.com

Liz Mathew, Utpal Bhaskar, Asit Ranjan Mishra and Nikita Mehta contributed to this story.

5118 - De-link Aadhaar, fee reimbursement: BJP - The Hindu

De-link Aadhaar, fee reimbursement: BJP

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

BJP city unit on Monday organised a dharna at the Collector’s Office demanding that fee reimbursement be de-linked with Aadhaar enrolment and sufficient funds be earmarked for reimbursement.

With colleges pressing for payment and stating that they would not be allowed to take the examination, the future of students was jeopardised, party leaders said.

Former MLA K. Haribabu, party city unit president P.V. Narayana Rao, Bandaru Ranga Mohana Rao, M. Nagendra and J.Pridhviraj were among those who led the dharna.

The party demanded that a separate directorate be formed for fee reimbursement and admission should be given only after all the certificates were thoroughly examined and for renewal the results from the respective universities should be taken into account.

4898 - ‘Aadhaar scheme not approved by Parliament’ - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, October 23, 2013

‘Aadhaar scheme not approved by Parliament’

GIRIJA SHIVAKUMAR

The BJP on Tuesday said the Aadhaar scheme of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) did not have Parliament's approval and was rejected by one of the key committees of the House.

“The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, which gives sanction to this particular card was rejected by the standing committee on Finance,” said BJP vice-president Smriti Irani. The programme violated the Constitutional right to privacy, she alleged.

The inclusion of all residents in the Unique Identification number (UID) scheme would threaten the nation's security by giving illegal migrants rights of citizens, she said.

Interestingly, the scheme received praise from surprise quarters with the BJD’s Jay Panda describing it as the “only thing that the UPA government is doing right”.

Mr. Panda admitted to being a great supporter of the scheme and ‘championing’ it nationally as well as internationally.

UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani asserted that the authority would cross the target of generating 60-crore Aadhaar numbers before the deadline of 2014 in the next few months. Mr. Nilekani said 46-crore numbers had been issued so far.

“The key issue lies in meeting the expectations of an increasingly aspirational generation and to understand that aspiration is a non-linear commodity. It cannot be one way or the other; it has to be an integration of bazaar, samaj and sarkar to take India to the next level. Technology will play a key role in this, be it reaching healthcare to the villages or making PDS supplies available to people,” Mr. Nilekani said after delivering a keynote address on “India's journey to 2018” at an event organised by the Eisenhower Foundation.

Responding to criticism of the scheme, he highlighted its importance of reaching entitlements to the people. The government believed in inclusion and a large number of Indians did not have a valid identification.

“We believe in inclusion. Fundamentally, we need to shift to higher gear ... We have huge demand from all across the society for Aadhaar numbers. We have to make sure that the delivery model is more equitable and efficient,” he said.

4895 - BJP attacks Aadhaar scheme, says it violates right to privacy - First Post

BJP attacks Aadhaar scheme, says it violates right to privacy 

Oct 22, 2013 

 New Delhi: 

The UIDAI, which has run into controversies recently, came under fresh attack with the BJP alleging that the Aadhar card issued by it to citizens as a unique identification does not have Parliament’s approval and has been rejected by one of the key committees of the House. “The reality is that the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, which gives sanction to this particular card was rejected by the standing committee on Finance,” BJP Vice President Smriti Irani said, alleging that the programme violates the constitutional right to privacy. 

AFP She was speaking at a programme on Aadhar here. “The reality is striking for me as an Indian that a concept which does not have the sanction of Parliament today is collecting bio-metric data which violates the constitutional right to privacy,” she said. 

BJP has questioned the Aadhaar scheme and argued that it should not be given to those who do not have bona fide papers and citizenship. It has alleged that several illegal migrants have got Aadhaar cards. “While the Aadhar card is one of the most ambitious projects that the government speaks about, the reality is that they are awaiting a Supreme Court decision regarding this,” Irani said. She went on to add that governance was not only about ‘what’ but also about ‘how’. 

The BJP leader said that while the country celebrates the rising level of literacy, the reality is that the latest figures reveals that 50 percent of our children — boys and girls– drop out of school at the secondary level. “In rural areas, only six percent are graduates and in urban areas, it is only 22 percent and I say this today because for a nation’s journey to be fruitful one can determine the milestones when one totally accepts the stark reality and challenges that are before us today,” she added. Speaking at the same programme earlier, UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani had said the authority will beat the target of generating 60 crore Aadhaar numbers before schedule in the next few months. 

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Chairman said 46 crore Aadhaar numbers have been given so far. “By 2014, there was a target to generate 60 crore aadhar numbers. We will beat this before schedule in next few months. So far 46 crore Aadhar numbers have been given. In September we added 2.5 crore Aadhar numbers,” Nilekani said.

4880 - BJP's think tank presents scary data on Aadhaar roll out, Cong-led states account for over 50% coverage - Economic Times

BJP's think tank presents scary data on Aadhaar roll out, Cong-led states account for over 50% coverage

Nistula Hebbar, ET Bureau Oct 23, 2013, 04.48AM IST

NEW DELHI: The UPA government's direct benefit transfer scheme is expected to yield it political dividends, just how and how much is a matter of some speculation. BJP's newly inaugurated think tank, the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC), however, has done the necessary number crunching and come up with a set of slightly scary data for the party in the election year.

To provide a fit case for comparison, according to the research paper they came up with, UPA's politically super successful loan write off programme of 2009 was examined in detail.

"Almost 56% of total waived loans were in UP, Maharashtra and Andhra. Around Rs 30,000 crore were waived off to around 1.75 crore farmers. These three states send the highest number of MPs — 80, 48 and 42 (along with West Bengal), respectively.

Congress won 71 seats in these three states alone. A gain of 40%," said the paper. The inference is that targeted schemes were aimed at Congress-ruled states where they were rigorously implemented and political dividends gained.

The paper then goes on to look at the Aadhaar scheme roll out and its distribution and spread (2012 data). "40% of the 22 crore Aadhaar numbers are in Andhra Pradesh (4.7 crore) and Maharashtra (4 crore) where the Congress can expect major gains," the paper concludes.

These two states, the research states, account for 20% of the total districts selected for DBT. Congress-led states account for more than 50% coverage of total identified districts.

The states with lowest penetration of Aadhaar are West Bengal, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Age also plays a factor, 55% of numbers are in the "vote catchment friendly age group" of 16-45. Those above 66 years account only for 4.3% numbers issued.

Among the 121 districts identified for DBT, 62 districts are from Congress-ruled states, with only 17 from BJP-ruled states. While communal polarisation and caste are certainly election changing issues, the DBT is a worry for the party.

"Our attempt is not to be deliberately partisan, but certainly, we want to give pertinent and useful analysis to the party, and anyone else who wants it," says PPRC chief Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. He adds this is just a sample of the kind of work the think tank will do.

A RSS source said in the last few years, the lack of academic depth in terms of ideological articulation has worried the party.

In the last decade or so, RSS affiliated think tanks like India Policy Foundation and the Vivekananda Centre have been fairly active. Congress has its own set of institutions, including the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for contemporary studies, with Dr Mohan Gopal as chief.

4877 - Aadhaar not approved by Parliament, says BJP - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, October 22, 2013

Updated: October 22, 2013 20:16 IST

Aadhaar not approved by Parliament, says BJP

GIRIJA SHIVAKUMAR

The BJP on Tuesday said the Aadhaar card of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) does not have Parliament's approval and rejected by one of the key committees of the House.

“The Authority of India Bill, 2010, which gives sanction to this particular card was rejected by the standing committee on Finance,” said BJP vice-president Smriti Irani. The programme violated the Constitutional right to privacy, she alleged.

The inclusion of all residents in the Unique Identification number (UID) scheme would threaten the nation's security by giving illegal migrants rights of citizens, she said.

Interestingly, the scheme received praise from surprise quarters with the BJD’s Jay Panda describing it as the “only thing that the UPA government is doing right”.

Mr. Panda admitted to being a great supporter of the scheme and ‘championing’ it nationally as well as internationally.

UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani asserted that the authority would cross the target of generating 60 crore Aadhaar numbers before the deadline of 2014 in the next few months. Mr. Nilekani said 46 crore numbers had been issued so far.

“The key issue lies in meeting the expectations of an increasingly aspirational generation and to understand that aspiration is a non-linear commodity. It cannot be one way or the other; it has to be an integration of bazaar, samaj and sarkar to take India to the next level. Technology will play a key role in this, be it reaching healthcare to the villages or making PDS supplies available to people,” Mr. Nilekani said after delivering a keynote address on “India's journey to 2018” at an event organised by the Eisenhower Foundation.

Responding to criticism of the scheme, he highlighted its importance of reaching entitlements to the people. The government believed in inclusion and a large number of Indians did not have a valid identification.

“We believe in inclusion. Fundamentally, we need to shift to higher gear... We have huge demand from all across society for Aadhaar numbers. We have to make sure that the delivery model is more equitable and efficient,” he said.

2810 - Opposition criticizes UPA’s plan to use Aadhaar for cash transfers

Opposition criticizes UPA’s plan to use Aadhaar for cash transfers

BJP, CPM say the UID system is not ready and is yet to be approved by the Parliament

Anuja  

           First Published: Wed, Nov 28 2012. 08 03 PM IST

New Delhi: A day after the Congress party staked claim to the United Progressive Alliance government’s direct cash transfer programme that seeks to use the Aadhaar number, opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, and activists on Wednesday criticized the move on the grounds that while such transfers will not reduce instances of corruption, the bid to use unique-identity number comes when a proposed law for it is yet to be approved by the government.

“Parliament has not yet passed the UID (unique identification) Bill, but sitting in the Congress office, they said that they will enforce UID,” Brinda Karat, politburo member of the CPM said, referring to a media briefing by finance minister P. Chidambaram and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh held on Monday. “The CPM demands that till the Bill is not debated in the Parliament, this linkage between UID and other schemes should not be made.”

Chidambaram said on Tuesday that the government would directly transfer benefits of 29 welfare schemes to the beneficiaries in 51 districts. While it would start with a pilot programme in January, the initiative will be extended to 18 states from April next year. Subsidies related to food and fertilizers are excluded from the initial list.

Speaking at the event on Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that while the move was “politically motivated”, the system was not yet ready for it.

“They (the government) are bringing a new word by saying cash transfer, but the framework for it is not yet ready, the scheme is not yet ready… We (the BJP) will raise this issue in Parliament,” he said.

Rights activists, too, criticized the move.

Aruna Roy, social activist and member of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council that sets the government’s social agenda, said technology alone will not be able to reduce corruption. “Corruption is just an excuse,” she said, adding that the UID scheme should not be linked with other programmes.

2325 - BJP takes up ID-card issue as poll plank - Northeast Indians

Spl Correspondent

NEW DELHI, March 14 – BJP’s new IT vision envisages according top priority to detect illegal migrants by re-jigging the UPA’s brainchild programme Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) to create a new authority, 

Citizenship Regulatory Authority of India (CRAI) by amending the Citizenship Act of 1955. The national ID plan is a key component of the Party’s IT Vision,” declared Opposition leader and Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP, LK Advani releasing the IT Vision ‘Transforming Bharat’.

The release function was attended by national president, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Jaswant Singh, Arun Shourie, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Arun Jaitely, among others. The man behind the Project is Assamese IT professional Pradyut Bora, who heads the BJP’s IT cell.

Addressing the function, Advani said that security concern continues influenced by the problem of to be illegal migrants. “There are an estimated 1-2 crore illegal Bangladeshis in the country,” he contended.

Castigating the UPA Government for not doing anything, Advani charged that in a way the Government of India was colluding with them.

The centrepiece of the implementation of the BJP’s IT Vision is the Multi-purpose Identity Card (MIC), a programme started by the then NDA Government. The party also pooh-poohed the attempt of the UPA Government to introduce the (UIAI).

“Only in January did the UPA Government make a token attempt to be seen as responsive on this issue, when it set up UIAI, as an attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission,” the document said.

Against this slipshod and half-hearted attempt of the UPA Government, a future BJP-led NDA Government would give this programme topmost priority.
“We would amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to combine the offices of register General if Census of India and that of the UIAI to set up a CRAI. The amended Citizenship Act would make it mandatory
under law for all citizens to acquire an MNIC, and parents of newly born infants would have to apply for one for their child immediately after the baby’s birth.

It would be responsible for maintaining a National Register of Citizenship (NRC), and keeping it current up to the minute.

Based on the BRC, CRAI would issue each citizen an MNIC with a unique Citizen Identification Number (CIN). CRAI would maintain 24X7 online presence and enable Government, law enforcement agencies and private institutions to let their computer system ‘look up’ the MNIC database in real time, the document proposes.

The BJP promises to complete the MNIC rollout within three years of taking office, the Vision Document promises.

Earlier, introducing the Project, Arun Shourie said that IT Vision is part of the agenda of good governance. The emphasis is on technology for people. He also explained the benefits that would be derived from the new IT policy and some of its highlights.

Recalling the initiatives taken by the NDA regime in the IT sector, he said the new policy would help in telemedicine, health, and education, besides other sectors. The document promises to re-orient the IT sector by empowerment of rural India.

Advani promised to take internet literacy to the country’s 6 lakh villages leading to creation of 1.25 crore new jobs. The BJP promised distribution of laptops to I crore students at interest free loans.

Meanwhile, the BJP national president inaugurated the new look BJP website (www.bjp.org). ASSAM TRIBUNE