4915 - A question of identity - Hindustan Times

A question of identity

Furquan Ameen Siddiqui , Hindustan Times   November 03, 2013

During a lecture at the Center for Global Development in Washington earlier this year, UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani, explained how millions born without any formal registration in India can now demand services and social benefits with Aadhaar.

The project received a setback when the Supreme Court on September 23 said that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for availing welfare scheme benefits.

Aadhaar has been courting serious doubts, confusion and uncertainty since its launch in September 2010. Even before the initiation of UID, Nilekani projected Aadhaar as a project that will resolve challenges of identity, financial inclusion, corruption, direct benefit transfers and subsidy reforms.

But could a mammoth programme to collect biometric data of billions of Indians become a key tool to fight poverty and their integration into global economy?

On October 29, Nilekani announced a Aadhaar Diffusion Project jointly set up with Nasscom, in an attempt to encourage entrepreneurs to develop software applications and services using Aadhaar as a platform — to create apps. But there are many who oppose UIDAI for being intrusive.

“The information collected can be used for data profiling or constant surveillance,” says Usha Ramanathan, a law researcher who has been studying UID since its inception.

Over the last year, more and more states and government agencies were making Aadhaar’s use mandatory for a host of services, from buying cooking gas to registering marriages, renting houses.

“The idea was to replace several other forms of documentation. But now with SC strictures on Aadhaar there is confusion again on its fate,” says Bibek Debroy, economist and policy analyst at Centre for Policy and Research.

With the cabinet clearing a bill to give legal backing to UIDAI and probably answer many concerns, the common man is meanwhile still grappling with the confusion on the importance of this unique number to avail benefits and services.

From birth to death:  Caught in a web of documentation

Congratulations! You’re born

Get a birth certificate (No charges)

Submit:

Application on a plain paper with a proof of birth which includes statement by medical officer in hospital, persons in charge in case of a birth in jail, dharamshala or by police station in-charge if found in a deserted place.

Affidavit specifying place, date, time and name of the child

Proof of address from head of the family

Mandatory to register within 21 days under Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969. Issued by Registrar of births and deaths, local municipal body

Off to school

Submit:

Birth certificate as a proof of age

Proof of address of parent(s)

A medical certificate mentioning records of vaccination, blood group

Below Poverty Line card, income certificate of parent(s) and an affidavit declaring the distance of residence from the school, is required for applying in the EWS category

A Transfer Certificate from the previous school is required while changing schools later in the school life

Going to college

Apply for:

Admission in UG course

Submit:

Proof of age (birth certificate/school-leaving certificate for those born before 1989)

Proof of identity and proof of permanent residence

Domicile certificate (issued by state) to avail domicile quotas in institutions

BPL card of parent(s)to avail fee concession

Caste certificate (SC/ST /OBC certificates) to apply for reserved seats

Sports certificates to avail seats reserved under sports quota

Study abroad

Submit:

Proof of age, identity, residence, eligibility and work experience (if any)

Passport, certificates from High School, Senior Secondary, Graduation or Post Graduation degree (if completed), Diploma certificates

Proof of financial support/income certificate of parent(s)

Student visa

A student loan

Submit:

College admission letter

Collateral documents like property deeds or policies of the guarantor

Proof of identity and residence of the guarantor

Income certificate from the guarantor

First trip abroad

Submit:

Proof of age (Birth certificate)

Proof of permanent or temporary residence (rent agreement)

For minor applicants, residence proof of parent(s) is applicable

Medical certificate stating vaccination records as specified by individual countries

Travel visa

Issued by Consular, Passport and Visa Division of the Ministry of External Affairs

You are an adult now

Eeligible to vote and get a Driving Licence

Voter ID card (No charges)

Submit:

Birth certificate as age proof (or school-leaving certificate)

Proof of residence

Driving Licence (Rs 50 to Rs. 500)

Submit:

Proof of age (birth certificate, school certificate) and proof of residence

Application for learner’s licence is required before applying for a permanent one

All documents are required for a fresh licence along with a requisition letter, in case of an address change. Plus, you need to surrender your licence.

Post Graduation

Submit:

Birth certificate to establish age (or a school-leaving certificate)

Proof of identity and proof of permanent residence/temporary (rent agreement)

Domicile certificate (residence certificate) to avail domicile quotas in educational institutions

BPL card of parent(s) to avail concession in fees

Caste certificate (SC/ST /OBC certificates) to apply for reserved seats

Certificate of graduation

Apply for first job

Submit:

Proof of identity and proof of permanent/temporary residence

School certificates, Diploma, Graduation or PG degrees

Permanent Account Number (PAN)

Caste certificate for reserved seats

Get a PAN card (Rs 94 for Indian resident, Rs. 744 for NRI)

Submit:

Proof of identity

Proof of permanent/temporary residence

Used in filing tax returns, many financial transactions

Get a job card under MGNREGA (No charges)

Submit:

An application for registration through the prescribed form, which the Gram Panchayat verifies later and issues a card

Getting hitched? Paperwork ahead

Change of name, address and bank details

Get marriage certificate (Rs 100 to Rs. 150)

Submit:

Application form signed by both husband and wife

Evidence of date of birth of both

Address proof of husband and previous address of wife

Affidavit stating place, date of marriage, date of birth, marital status at the time of marriage and nationality

Marriage invitation card from both the parties

Change of address/name of wife (Charges vary)

Submit:

Affidavit citing a name change

A copy of current identity

Copies of newspaper advertisement of name change and Gazette notification

Husband’s identity and address proof if taking his surname

Marriage certificate

Looking after your family

Your child is born

Get Birth Certificate (Free)

Submit:

Application of a form along with proof of birth by head of the family or person in charge

Affidavit specifying place, date, time and name of the child

Proof of address and identity

Get your family insured

Life Insurance (Charges vary)

Submit:

Proof of age

Proof of residence and identity

Income proof

Ration card (Rs 10 to Rs. 25)

Submit:

Proof of residence

Form attested by the Circle FSO, area councillor or village sarpanch

Income certificate for a BPL card

Purchase your dream home

Home loan (Charges vary)

Submit:

Identity and residence proof

Salary slip or Income certificate

Form 16 and bank statements for past six months

Property registration (Charges vary)

Submit:

Sale deed and transfer permission from development authority

NOC from state authorities

Copy of approved building plan

Proof of ownership

Life after retirement

Apply for Pension

Submit:

Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN)

Proof of identity and permanent residence

Income certificate

Details of bank account (joint account of husband and wife)

Last salary slip

Make a will (Charges vary)

Submit:

A signed and attested will in presence of two witnesses

Register the will with the Registrar of Assurances

In absence of a will, a death certificate can be used to inherit property

Death Certificate (No charges)

Submit:

Application on a plain paper with a proof of death (includes statement by medical officer, persons in charge in case of a death in jail, dharamshala or by police station in-charge if found in a deserted place.

Certificate from the graveyard or cremation authority

Register with the Registrar of births and deaths, municipal authority

4890 - New day, new start - Hindustan Times

New day, new start

Abhijit Banerjee

January 01, 2013

The announcement that, starting today, the Aadhaar Unique Identity number will be used to make cash payments directly to beneficiaries in some areas has brought some much-needed excitement back into the political life of the chattering classes. After months, nay years, of drift, here at least was

something decisive from the government, something to hate or love. In some of the economist circles it is being described as a game changer. The Right to Food Campaign, on the other hand, is organising, in its own words “against UID and Cash Transfers in the PDS”.

What is worrying is that neither side seems to be interested in what I see as the core question posed by the Aadhaar infrastructure — here is a new technology for identification, how do we use it to make our favourite programmes work better? For some of the opponents of Aadhaar, this is a part of a general suspicion of all new technologies: the ration card is better because it is familiar, no matter that it can get lost or stolen or torn or wet. No matter that Ram, with a little help from the local government, can end up with a ration card in Raghu’s name (as well as another one in his own name). No matter that Raghu could be dead or even never born.

This to me is one great advantage of Aadhaar. In the end my fingertips and my cornea are mine. No one else will be able to claim that he is me, and I should almost always be able to demonstrate that I am. That means that it is now possible to stop Ram from collecting Raghu’s kerosene, and Raghu not be deprived because his ration card got soaked when the rain came in through the broken roof. Moreover, now that every entitlement can be linked to a single ID, it should be possible to prevent Ram from collecting both subsidised kerosene and LPG cylinders at less than half the market price, given that the law says that no one can have both.

Like everything else in India, it will not work perfectly. Some will be asked for bribes, though the fact that, unlike in the case of the ration card, they could just go elsewhere to get their number will protect them to some extent.

Others will be turned away because their fingers don’t print, despite the fact that the Aadhaar rules say that no one can be refused. Sometimes the computers will freeze and the networks will be down, despite all attempts to build in backups. But then the comparison should not be with some ideal system that runs perfectly, but with the extant systems for an ID (a passport or a ration card), which can be infuriating, to say the least.

A lot of the resistance is however not to Aadhaar per se, whether it works or not, but to its association with the move to cash transfers. We are told that people do not like cash — they want food and fuel. There is a survey by Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera that purports to document this. I must say I have little faith in these results, not because the authors are anything but extremely competent, but because the answer to such questions must necessarily depend on exactly how they get framed, explicitly or implicitly. 

Whether I would want food or cash depends on what I believe about exactly how many times the PDS shop will refuse me my quota versus whether the cash will get stolen along the way, and about how the government is planning to adjust the cash for inflation and a host of other factors about which no one really knows very much. So the answer must depend on exactly how I construe the alternatives based on the way they are described.

I have more faith in actual outcomes. The one study that I know of cash versus food, conducted by the Gandhian trade union SEWA in some Delhi slums, found that a move to cash made no difference in people’s cereal consumption but helped them when they had medical emergencies. There was no effect on consumption of alcohol or other “bads”. Moreover out of 100 people who were switched to cash, only four volunteered to go back to food when offered the choice after six months of cash. However this is one small study, with little pretence of being scientific about controlling other factors that might have changed, and we absolutely need to wait for other, better evidence (there is a study in Andhra Pradesh that is about to announce its results). But in the meanwhile, if you believe that kind is better than cash, why not try to engage with Aadhaar and see how it can be used to make those transfers in kind more effective?

However there is a deeper source of resistance. A good bit of what, for want of a better word is called civil society, holds that the Indian State today is so committedly anti-poor that the presumption has to be that if it is something the State is enthusiastic about there must be something wrong with it. There are mornings when I open the newspaper and see exactly where they are coming from, but in the end I do not believe it. The Indian State is a contested terrain, indeed perhaps never more or so than now. The current system of transfers to the poor is not a product of some past State that was uniformly benign — after all Indira Gandhi did both garibi hatao and Turkman gate — but a result of electoral compulsions, occasional munificence and many battles lost and won, fought by the poor and their supporters. The State has always acted under many compulsions, and there is nothing inherent about Aadhaar that makes it less worth engaging with and appropriating for the right causes than any other government initiative.

And in a sense, the same imperative to engage also applies to those of us who are excited by Aadhaar’s potential. The point is not to treat it as a done deal, a solution to everything that goes wrong in government transfer programmes. 

Even with Aadhaar we would need to find a way to stop politicians and bureaucrats from putting their friends on the BPL lists. Is there a way to be creative about verifications that make that harder? At a more mundane level, given that there are bound to be glitches, should we not worry about the current push to start using the Aadhaar infrastructure for real government programmes before it has been field-tested through its uses in getting bank accounts and cell-phones? What is the right way to roll it out?

There is also a more long-term concern. When the Aadhaar infrastructure is in place and working well, which I predict will happen soon enough, would it not become extremely tempting for governments facing elections to start giving away larger and larger sums of money in key constituencies, given that money can be transferred to hundreds of millions of Aadhaar accounts with the press of a button? What stops an explosion of populism? I feel that now is the time to intervene. All political parties should agree on a number, some fixed fraction of GDP that can be used for all transfers, cash and non-cash - including the many boondoggles that we offer to the rich. If the government wants to give away more cash, it will have to cut back somewhere else, and perhaps this will persuade it to rein in the more egregious of our transfers to those who don’t need it, such as the subsidy on LPG.

Abhijit Banerjee is Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics and Director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MIT. The views expressed by the author are personal.

4885 - Govt to SC: Aadhaar can reduce fiscal deficit - Hindustan Times

Govt to SC: Aadhaar can reduce fiscal deficit

Bhadra Sinha , Hindustan Times  New Delhi, October 24, 2013

With the Supreme Court stating that the Aadhaar card will not be mandatory for availing social benefits from the government, the Union finance ministry asked the apex court to allow its use to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit.

In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the ministry admitted a huge amount of money of the public exchequer, spent on the government’s flagship schemes, has been wasted due to undetected fake entities in the list of beneficiaries. Use of Aadhaar card in the implementation of government schemes was to ensure that subsidies are directly given only to the eligible beneficiaries, it said.

The ministry’s affidavit comes in response to a PIL filed challenging the Aadhaar scheme on the ground that it violated privacy and there were no safeguards to check whether genuine Indians were getting it. The SC had on September 23 issued interim orders holding “no person shall suffer for not having Aadhaar card”.

Nearly Rs. 7 lakh crore has been spent on government’s 15 flagship schemes in the eleventh plan period.

4836 - LPG subsidy transfer to bank accounts leaves consumers baffled - Hindustan Times

LPG subsidy transfer to bank accounts leaves consumers baffled

Jyotsna Jalali, Hindustan Times  Chandigarh, October 11, 2013

While many consumers across tricity who have Aadhaar cards have started getting subsidy on LPG cylinders from October 1, but there is still confusion on the amount being transferred as subsidy in their accounts.

Meanwhile, those without Aadhaar cards will continue to get cylinder at the subsidised rate of `419 till December 31 this year, following that it will depend upon the policy of government of India.

The customers are getting `435 as subsidy in advance, in addition to the `609 which is the actual subsidy they will be getting on the purchase of each gas cylinder. However, many are not being able to understand the double amount being transferred to their bank accounts.

Customers are unaware that `435 is just one-time benefit they will be getting under the government of India scheme. In subsequent months, the entire subsidy amount will be transferred only after the dealer concerned puts the delivery note of for  particular customer online that would be `609.

Also, there are customers who in addition to `435 have received a total of `592 as subsidy in their account while they should have got `609. There are many others who haven't received subsidy at all.

Speaking to HT, a city-based dealer said, "I have consumers coming to me asking for the remaining subsidy amount, but I have no answer to their question. All we can do is put forth a question to the companies on their behalf."

"We ourselves are not being able to handle the booking properly with this new online system, for most of the time servers are not functional properly and we cannot connect online. There are glitches and we hope they settle with time," the dealer added.

Customers feel that this system of getting subsidy in bank accounts is not customer friendly and not many people keep a check on small amounts being transferred to their accounts.

Praveen Aggarwal, who is associated with a dealer in Sector 37, said, "This system was supposed to be foolproof and to help customers, but I don't see it happening. I got subsidy twice in my account and I was not sure how it happened. Nobody has made us aware on the advance part. Dealers don't have answers to our queries and we are bound to pay the entire amount as cooking gas cylinder is essential. Government officials and dealing companies should come out clearly on the policy."

Different dealers across the tricity said, "Since everything is online, they do not have any clarification on the issue as of now."

Adding, another dealer said, "Not all Aadhaar card details have been updated online and thus, we are not able to compare the same and only after dealers, banks and government upload the Aadhaar card details, the subsidy will be transferred. This is a major reason for delay. Dealers need to be educated and even the government needs to create awareness on this."

How subsidy would be transferred

*Customer will make a request for the cylinder and pay `1,028 - the cost of non-subsidised cylinder
*Dealer will transfer `435 as advance in the account of consumer (one-time thing)
*Dealer will compare the Aadhaar card number provided by the consumer with the data available to them by the government
*Dealer after comparing will finalise the sale online
*Based on this online entry by dealer, the bank concerned will transfer subsidy to the particular account.

Reasons for confusion, delay in subsidy transfer

*Consumers unaware of one- time `435 advance
*Dealers don't have computer efficient staff, causing delay in uploading sales online
*Servers of companies like Indian Oil not functioning properly
*Not all Aadhar card details being uploaded by the government.

4823 - Hanky-panky: what the government is doing on Internet - Hindustan Times

Jayshree Bajoria

Hanky-panky: what the government is doing on Internet

OCTOBER 8, 2013

Author(s):  Jayshree Bajoria

Published in:  Hindustan Times

Nearly 50 people were killed in the Muzaffarnagar sectarian riots last month. According to media reports, a fake video passed around through social media, contributed to flaming religious passions.

This prompted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to say that while people should have freedom to express their opinions, social media cannot be misused “to create communal tension and spread hatred”.

As Internet users rise globally, social media’s ability to mobilise people and influence public narratives has also grown. Many governments are increasing their surveillance of the Internet, often clashing with their commitments to free speech and privacy. After the global outrage over US surveillance, President Barack Obama told the UN General Assembly that his government will review its intelligence gathering practices.

India too should make a similar commitment. Instead of leaning towards greater restrictions and surveillance, India should address provisions in laws and rules governing the Internet that are already overbroad and ambiguous. These laws have been misused to arrest those critical of the government and put pressure on media companies to censor content. The government has even announced a centralised monitoring system to access all communications metadata and content on mobile phones and the Internet.

The Indian government already has the dubious honour of being second, after the US, in making the most requests for information on user accounts from Google, India’s most popular Internet search engine, and Facebook, the most popular social media network. According to Google’s latest transparency report for the period July to December 2012, the number of requests made by India spiked by 90% from the previous reporting period. The government has yet to explain its reasons for requesting such a massive trove of user data. Compounded by the absence of strong privacy protections, and the government’s haphazard record of protecting free speech, this is of serious concern.

While the government says it is motivated by threats to national security or law and order, the lack of transparency makes it difficult for the public to have any meaningful input or participate in an informed debate on whether these requests are in any way justified. This opacity is exacerbated as there is no single agency authorised to conduct surveillance, make requests for blocking content, or seek user data. According to some reports, nine agencies are empowered to conduct interception and Internet companies receive requests from multiple agencies.

If India is serious about protecting fundamental rights to privacy and free expression, it needs to make the system more transparent and build in robust, independent oversight mechanisms. Parliament should conduct a full review of current surveillance practices and periodically review the necessity and proportionality of surveillance programmes as a whole. Government requests for user communications or interception should be subject to judicial oversight.

The government should appoint a single body that processes all requests. This will help with reporting on aggregate data and increase accountability for the various agencies exercising powers for surveillance and intercepting information. The government should publish its own ‘transparency report’ releasing information on requests made for content removal and for user account information. India can and should take up this opportunity to lead the way on addressing legitimate concerns over the use of the Internet for illegal purposes while also meeting its international human rights obligations. 

Jayshree Bajoria is South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. The views expressed by the author are personal.

4806 - SC says govt can't ask for data without legal backing - Hindustan Times

SC says govt can't ask for data without legal backing

Satya Prakash, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, October 10, 2013

Hit hard by the Supreme Court and confusion, the plan to turn you into a number on government computers has come a cropper — at least for now.

It began with much fanfare. On September 29, 2010, after giving an Aadhaar number to Rajana Sonawane of Tembhli village in Nandurbar in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was “a beginning of a big effort for the welfare of the common man”.

Why? “The poor did not have any identity proof ... they could not open bank accounts or get ration cards. They could not avail the benefits of government welfare programmes... and many times, these benefits were pocketed by others.”

But three years later, the UPA’s supposedly “game-changer” scheme to deliver benefits directly to the poor — ahead of the 2014 elections — has been stopped in its tracks by the Supreme Court.

On a petition filed by a former Karnataka high court judge, the top court said on September 23 that no one could be denied welfare scheme benefits for not having an Aadhaar number.

Its argument: If Aadhaar is voluntary, why make its possession mandatory for availing benefits? Plus, the government needs to arm itself with a law to ask for intrusive data from the applicants. Meanwhile, some states went ahead and made Aadhaar numbers mandatory.

Some made it a must to get even marriages registered. In Delhi, several welfare entitlements are linked to it. In Maharashtra and Jharkhand, Aadhaar numbers are necessary for availing of pension, scholarships and property registration. Maharashtra even went to the extent of making salary payments to the teaching and non-teaching staff Aadhaar-linked.

As the order came as a blow to the government’s plan to capitalise on Aadhaar-linked welfare schemes and direct benefit transfer in an election year, it rushed to the top court with a plea for the permission to roll out DBT on subsidised LPG cylinders. But the court refused to oblige.

What’s more, former National Advisory Council member Aruna Roy questioned the scheme before the Supreme Court, saying private contractors and NGOs — hired by Unique Identification Authority of India — collected biometric details, but there was no safeguard against their misuse.

The Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the National Identification Authority of India Bill, which will give legal backing to the UIDAI and can potentially answer the questions posed by the top court.

But even if the bill is passed, the legal battle cannot be said to be over. For, those opposed to Aadhaar will, in all probability, challenge the new law on the grounds of violation of privacy, claiming the data collected by UIDAI is intrusive in nature.

The battle looks to be a long one.

4777 - DBT scheme: People 'forced to pay extra' termed plan 'faulty' - Hindustan Times

DBT scheme: People 'forced to pay extra' termed plan 'faulty'

Jatinder Kohli , Hindustan Times  Jalandhar, October 06, 2013

First Published: 22:10 IST(6/10/2013) | Last Updated: 22:11 IST(6/10/2013)

Linking Aadhaar card with the bank account with an aim for direct transfer of the subsidies for Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) have proved costly for the consumers as they are forced to pay about `100 more for buying a subsidised cylinder as compared to earlier system.

Not only the consumers are paying extra, confusions regarding how much and when they would receive subsidy into their accounts are also troubling them.

Those who have already linked their bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers have also termed new system 'expensive'.

Gas agencies and nodal agency of DBT, that is, district food and supply department were also unaware about the fact that why consumers, who have linked their bank accounts with Aadhaar numbers are forced to pay Rs. 100 extra.

In Jalandhar, an LPG consumer Raj Kumar, who had linked his bank account with Aadhaar number, said he had paid Rs. 1066 for an LPG cylinder, but was shocked to find out that he had received only Rs. 435 into bank account as subsidy. He added that it was surprising that in this way, the cylinder cost Rs. 600 more whereas the consumers who have not linked their Aadhaar numbers are still getting subsidised cylinder at Rs. 430.

He said it would have been better had he not linked his accounts with Aadhaar number. He also blamed government for not giving a clear picture about DBTL scheme.

In Nawanshahr, an LPG consumer, Lachhman Das said he had paid Rs. 1000 despite amount printed as `Rs 993 on bill receipt of cylinder and was shocked to find out from statement of bank account that only Rs. 470 was received as subsidy from government.

"In this way, the cylinder costs around Rs. 523 and I was forced to pay Rs. 93 extra for it,"he alleged. He added that the central government and gas agencies had created DBT just to rob the common man and stated that old system was better than the 'faulty DBT scheme'.

Chief area manager, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Rajeev Patel said, "Those who have linked their accounts with Aadhaar will get Rs. 435 on the booking of cylinder into their account as 'advance' from government."

He added that Rs. 435 was not a subsidy amount and those consumers, who had got cylinder delivered, would also get subsidy amount into their accounts within a few days and people should not be worried.

4741 - Aadhaar card linkage negligible in Hoshiarpur - Hindustan times

Aadhaar card linkage negligible in Hoshiarpur

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times  Hoshiarpur, September 30, 2013

Just a day before Aadhaar-based direct cash subsidy on LPG connection is to roll out in the district, the picture of enrolment of LPG users is discouraging.

Although nearly 82% of the total 3,08,483 consumers have enrolled themselves for Aadhaar number, a minuscule 1.6% have yet got them linked with bank accounts which is mandatory to avail the subsidy.

District magistrate Tanu Kashyap, who had implemented the pilot project in Shahhed Bhagat Singh Nagar, has expedited the process of enrolment in the past few days.

Gas agencies, which were earlier receiving 10-20 applications, are now getting around 300 applicants a day. Drop boxes have been put up at every LPG outlet where applicants can drop their Aadhaar card and bank account copies.

"We are informing consumers about the new scheme. They are also informed about the procedure to be followed to benefit from the scheme," said Naveen Sharma of Prem Sagar gas agency.

"Initially we did not receive many applications but with consumers becoming aware, we get around 150 requests every day now," said Avtar Singh Mann of Mann gas service.

Food supplies officer Surinder Singh said a major reason for low rate of enrolment in rural areas was that most of the consumers had their accounts in co-operative banks.

"These people are now opening accounts in nationalised banks which provide zero balance account facility. Moreover, many consumers have neither got their Aadhaar numbers nor valid enrolment slips. There have been complaints that the data of consumers collected by a certain company, which has since been blacklisted, was not uploaded on the system and consumers had to give biometric proofs again," he said.

"We try to increase the numbers by conducting camps. The number of application reaching agencies has already gone up and soon it will achieve 100% target," said Kashyap. She informed that people could check the status of their Aadhaar card at the Suwidha centre in the Mini Secretariat.

4716 - DBT scheme's future bleak; UID making agency stops functioning - Hindustan Times

DBT scheme's future bleak; UID making agency stops functioning

Mehakdeep Grewal, Hindustan Times  Patiala, September 28, 2013

The future of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for LPG subsidies hangs in fire as even before the deadline October 1, the outsourced agency 'Vyam Tech' which responsible for making Aadhaar cards in Patiala has wrapped up its machines due to non-payment of salary.

Without the Aadhaar cards, a mandatory to avail subsidy, the beneficiaries are left in dark.

There seems no end to the controversies surrounding UPA government's ambitious project 'UID'. Out of the total 367412 LPG beneficiaries in the district only 47588 (13% of total) have got their Aadhaar cards and bank accounts linked. While others are left in the lurch, as the outsourced agency's contract ended on Friday. With no machines functioning, the making of card has come to standstill.

Sources said the agency had refused to extend its contract as total payment of over six lakhs of 45 operators has been pending over past three months.

Assistant district food civil supply controller (ADFSC) Renu Bala Verma said 94% of the population had been enrolled. However, the Aadhaar cards which were made in 2011 by outsourced agency Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System Ltd (DIMITs) company were being remade as they data had failed to reach the Bangalore office.

Verma added that due to lack of co-ordination among the gas agencies and banks the total number of beneficiaries was varying.

She said till the government issues any order, the deadline for DBT would not be extended even if 100% enrolment is not done.

"We had asked the gas agency's to install Aadhaar card making machines in their offices to accelerate the process but they refused on space crunch grounds."

"After the Supreme Court's ruling that Aadhaar cards are not mandatory for availing government subsidies people have become more reluctant and the process has been delayed,"she said.

District food civil supply controller (DFSC) Ajaiveer Sarao said 40 more machines will be installed and contract has been given to a new company.

The distributors at the gas agency whined that the bank officials delaying the process as they were not collecting the Aadhaar card and gas connection details of customers from the agency.

Bharat gas agency manager Gyanak Singh said at the agency 1800 customers had deposited their forms; however, only 500 forms had been collected by the bank.

Bank coordinator HS Rekhi said the distributors have been told to provide the banks with the details so that seeding of accounts can be done.

Joginder Singh a LPG beneficiary said, "I had applied for Aadhaar card six months ago, however, I haven't received it, I am not sure if I will get the subsidy in my account or not."

4693 - SC order on Aadhaar may affect DBT schemes - Hindustan Times

SC order on Aadhaar may affect DBT schemes

Chetan Chauhan , Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 24, 2013

The biometric-based Unique Identification or Aadhaar number for every resident above five years of age was one of the most ambitious programmes by the central government.

Aimed at changing the way government spends money for the betterment of the people, Aadhaar would have reduced social sector spending by one-fourth, said a 2010 Planning Commission study.

However, hasty implementation of the programme led to a public interest litigation being filed in the Supreme Court.

One issue was how the government allowed private individuals to collect demographic details of residents without a law on data protection and privacy. Providing an identity and residence validity to illegal migrants remained controversial with the BJP opposing the scheme’s universal ambit.

A Parliamentary committee headed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha junked a draft UIDAI law, accusing the Centre of pushing the scheme through the back door. A new draft UIDAI law has not been firmed up so far. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2013/9/24_09_pg10b.jpg

 SC’s observation that government services cannot be denied to anyone not having an Aadhaar deals a final blow to the target of enrolling 1.1 billion residents by 2014. Aadhaar numbers have been issued to 410 million people.

The order can slow down UPA’s game changer direct benefit transfer (DBT) of entitlements as it can’t push people to enroll anymore. The government ensured enrollment by making Aadhaar mandatory to avail social security pension and scholarships.

Cooking gas subscribers in around 289 districts were to get subsidy directly into their Aadhaar linked bank accounts by early 2014. Many states like Delhi, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh made Aadhaar mandatory for services like registration of property and obtaining birth and caste certificates.

These measures were adopted to make the voluntary Aadhaar mandatory. That may not happen if the court’s order prevails

4682 - Lift the shroud of secrecy - Hindustan Times

Lift the shroud of secrecy

Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 24, 2013

We must thank the Supreme Court for doing what the Centre should have done in the first place: clearing the confusion on whether Aadhaar is mandatory for citizens to avail of State subsidies by ruling, on Monday, that it is not.

It must be mentioned here that even though personal information of citizens is being collated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for Aadhaar, the authority has no legal backing. At best, the UIDAI only guarantees identity, and does not guarantee rights, benefits or entitlement.

While the court order may have come as a shocker to the government and upset its plans of showcasing the Aadhaar-backed Direct Benefit Transfer scheme as one of its main achievements ahead of the general elections, it has only itself to blame for this situation.

From the time the government launched Aadhaar, questions were raised about the scheme but it chose to stonewall those queries. While citizens were told that Aadhaar enrolment is voluntary, in practice many states are making it mandatory simply by tying it up with benefit schemes. Hopefully, this roundabout way of coercing citizens into enrolling for Aadhaar will stop after the SC order.

For any citizen of India, there is a plethora of identity documents. All that we really needed was a ‘base document’ that would work as an identity card. Instead of doing that, the government launched two schemes: Aadhaar and the National Population Register (NPR), leading to confusion.

Most people still don’t know if/why they need to enrol for both the schemes. Questions have been raised on the legality of the UID and NPR collecting data and biometrics of citizens. Many concerns have been raised about the use of biometrics in terms of the legality, effectiveness, and accuracy of the technology.

At a time when the State control of Big Data is becoming an increasingly touchy issue worldwide, it is imperative for the government to clear the air on UID and NPR and their respective merits. Failing to do so will only create further confusion and raise questions on transparency in governance.

4675 - Government plans to give Aadhaar legal weight - Hindustan Times

Government plans to give Aadhaar legal weight

Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 25, 2013

A day after questions were raised in the Supreme Court over the legality of the Aadhaar project, the government on Tuesday fast-tracked a draft bill to give legal backing to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that issues the 12-digit number.

The court had said no person should be denied welfare benefits or services for not possessing the unique identification number in what is being seen as set back to the UPA’s showpiece direct transfer cash scheme in an election year.
 
The national identification authority of India draft bill seeks to address two major concerns raised by the petitioners as well as social activists: no legal backing for Aadhaar and violation of privacy of those enrolled.  There is a provision of jail and fine — up to `1 crore — for any misuse of information or data theft.

A note seeking the cabinet’s nod to introduce the bill — which will give Aadhaar the legal backing — in Parliament was being circulated, a government official said.

“We have finalised the note covering all aspects,” the official said.

The bill, which is an improved version of the one that was rejected by a parliamentary panel in 2010, provides legal cover to the entire process right from the enrolment stage.

Enrolments are done by private agencies hired by state governments in consultation with UIDAI, which was set up through an executive order in 2009. These agencies directly feed in the demographic and biometric details into the UIDAI system.

Any unauthorised sharing of information would result in a jail term of up to three years and a fine, the official said. No personal information would be shared with any government agency unless authorised by a designated senior government official.

Data theft is to be punished with three-year jail term and a fine that can be as high as Rs. 1 crore.
  
After the cabinet’s nod, the bill would be introduced in the winter session of Parliament, Minister for planning Rajiv Shukla said. The Planning Commission, in-charge of UIDAI, expects the cabinet to take up the bill within a month.

4674 - IB slams Uidai, says Aadhaar not credible as residence proof - Hindustan Times

IB slams Uidai, says Aadhaar not credible as residence proof

Aloke Tikku, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 24, 2013

First Published: 22:13 IST(24/9/2013) | Last Updated: 01:31 IST(25/9/2013)

In a setback to the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI's Aadhaar project, the Intelligence Bureau has told the government that Aadhaar-enrolled numbers were not a credible proof of residence.

The IB has also questioned the Unique Identification Authority of India’s liberal system of enrolling people under its introducer system, something that P Chidambaram had also flagged as home minister.

The report comes in the backdrop of UIDAI successfully hard-selling the Aadhaar number as an acceptable proof of identity and proof of residence, right from opening bank accounts to applying for driving license and passport.

The intelligence establishment has indicated that these decisions appear to have been taken without resolving basic problems highlighted during the peak of the home ministry-planning commission tussle in 2011. And then, some more.

Security sources said they remained uncomfortable with Aadhaar numbers being taken as gospel truth despite its system of data collection that is as prone to abuse as it is inclusive.

“The Aadhaar number is not a proof of residence... but only where a person claims to live,” a security source said.

He added this concern was addressed to a certain extent as long as Aadhaar numbers were delivered by speed post. “If a person received the Aadhaar number by post, it meant the address was accurate,” the source said. But once UIDAI allowed people to print their Aadhaar numbers from its website, even this safeguard is no longer present.

Besides, the security establishment has been severely critical of the UIDAI’s introducer system where anyone with an Aadhaar number can introduce others without any documentation to get the identity number. This means that a person can introduce someone, say a terrorist, with a fake name and address.

"This is a country where phone companies carry out antecedent checks before giving a phone... but there are no checks and balances before giving a terrorist a new identity," a government official said.

Sources said the IB had initially told the home ministry that Aadhaar should not even be treated as a proof of identity and had expressed fears about the manner in which the data about residents was handled by private parties. In the discussions that followed, UIDAI officials were, however, able to allay these concerns.

Sources said the IB’s concerns were still being scrutinised and discussed within the government whose direct benefit transfer project rides on the Aadhaar platform.

4661 - Aadhaar remains a must in Delhi - Hindustan Times

Aadhaar remains a must in Delhi

Neelam Pandey, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, September 24, 2013

First Published: 00:02 IST(24/9/2013) | Last Updated: 00:04 IST(24/9/2013)

The Delhi government will continue to insist on furnishing of Aadhaar cards for its schemes unless told otherwise by the Centre, sources said. 

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the government to not deny benefits to those not having an Aadhaar number.

The Delhi government was one of the first states to make Aadhaar card mandatory to avail government services. Not only this, its revenue department had gone a step ahead and made the card mandatory for getting married, selling or buying properties or even getting pension and scholarships.

“We can only comment on the issue after reading the judgment. We had made Aadhaar mandatory as the central government had made it as the eligibility criteria for its direct cash transfer scheme. We are only following the guidelines. This makes the scheme transparent as there is no other identity proof which takes into account a person’s biometrics,” said Dharam Pal, revenue secretary, Delhi government.

However, activists have welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling. “Making the Aadhaar card mandatory was a breach of trust. When you download the form, the very first sentence says that UID is free and voluntary. By making it compulsory, the government is making the citizens subservient,” said Gopal Krishna, member, Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties.

From April 1, the furnishing of Aadhaar card had been made compulsory for accessing and availing any Delhi government service — right from getting marriage certificates, registering properties and even getting pension. Even in the recently launched food security scheme, the government had made Aadhaar card mandatory.

As per the latest figures, Aadhaar enrolment in Delhi has reached 1.69 crore and cards have been issued to 1.52 crore.