5419 - Should Nandan Nilekani's Aadhaar project, for identity proof and welfare delivery, exist at all? - Economic Times

Should Nandan Nilekani's Aadhaar project, for identity proof and welfare delivery, exist at all?

M Rajshekhar, ET Bureau Apr 3, 2014, 11.59AM IST

The foundation of Aadhaar—a Congress flagship project to give every Indian a unique identity number and then use it to deliver services—has been under assault in the past three months.

Political, legal, reputational.

The political backlash is coming from leaders of BJP, the Congress' principal rival. Meenakshi Lekhi and Ananth Kumar are not, by any stretch of the imagination, the first or the last word on policy matters in the BJP, but they mince no words when they say that if their party forms a government, it will trash Aadhaar —a project that has delivered a unique ID to half of India and on which Rs 3,800 crore has been spent.

Even as BJP's loose cannons fired, the Supreme Court repeated on March 24 that the government cannot make Aadhaar mandatory to access welfare services like pensions and LPG subsidy. The same day, investigative journalism portal Cobrapost aired videos that allegedly showed agencies agreeing to enrol people from neighbouring countries for a bribe.

The BJP piled on. "It (Aadhaar) has served no purpose. They have issued cards to illegal migrants. We want citizenship cards," says Prakash Javadekar, spokesperson of BJP. His party does not have an official policy line on Aadhaar as yet, but another of its leaders, Yashwant Sinha, headed the Parliamentary panel that, in 2011, severely criticised and rejected the draft bill that provided the legal framework for Aadhaar. "We are for direct benefit transfer but not on the basis of Aadhaar, which is a very badly-designed scheme," Sinha told CNBC-TV18 on January 31. "We will give it to all citizens of India on the basis of NPR."

On the campaign trail in Bangalore, Nandan Nilekani, the chief architect and implementer of Aadhaar, defends his work as the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). "Aadhaar is a pro-development and an anti-corruption platform," says Nilekani, who was brought in by the Congress high command in 2009 and is contesting these elections on a party ticket against BJP's Kumar in Bangalore South. "It is a pity that some vested interests with narrow political and other motives are trying to stall the project."

Lost in those binaries are the objectives of Aadhaar, to universalise identity proof and to use it to plug leakages in delivery of welfare services. UIDAI, led by a hands-on Nilekani, pursued this agenda with a certain authority, great speed and an overriding emphasis on technology, all of which delivered outcomes.

But they also contributed to shortcomings that saw the project stumble on its way and for which it is now being critiqued. "This is the only way transformation takes place," says K Koshy, who was part of the team that conceptualised Aadhaar and is now with Ernst & Young. "When you know the ultimate system is workable, you sort out the problems as you go along."

Except, given the political winds blowing, it's anyone's guess what the new dispensation will feel about Aadhaar and UIDAI, from where Nilekani resigned on March 13 and which is seeing many officers who came from other parts of the government, on deputation, returning. Will the new dispensation see Aadhaar as an idea that is sound but with parts that need strengthening? Or, will they see it as an idea that is, by itself, fallacious? "I don't know where this is going," says Abhijit Sen, member, Planning Commission, under which UIDAI is housed.

5314 - The only good idea - Business Standard

The only good idea

Government slowness may have scuttled Aadhaar

Business Standard Editorial   |  New Delhi  March 13, 2014 Last Updated at 21:40 IST

   With the declaration that the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, Nandan Nilekani, will stand as a Congress candidate in the coming Lok Sabha elections from a constituency in Bangalore, attention has once again been focused on the Aadhaar project. Aadhaar is almost at its target of enrolling 600 million people nationwide; Mr Nilekani says that the UIDAI has now got the mandate to enrol people in four more states, which means it should take the number up to 950 million by 2015, if all goes well. 

All may not go well, however; the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) national spokesperson, Meenakshi Lekhi, said recently that Aadhaar was "a fraud", that biometric data were being sent "outside the country", threatened a Central Bureau of Investigation probe of all the money spent on Aadhaar, and said the BJP would review the entire project, which it suspects was entered into only to grant Bangladeshi migrants Indian citizenship. In other words, Mr Nilekani's candidature has made Aadhaar a deeply partisan issue.

Mr Nilekani himself reportedly told crowds while campaigning: "WhatsApp gained 450 million users in five years, while Aadhaar got 600 million users in just 4.5 years." The problem with the Aadhaar project can, in fact, be highlighted through just that statement. 

WhatsApp gained users because it was useful, and people wanted to download and use it. Aadhaar, sadly, cannot be said to have "users" yet. There are as yet few uses. This is why Mr Nilekani has to emphasise the number of enrolments, not the benefits that flow from Aadhaar - because those exist today only in theory. And the simple fact is that enrolments should not be seen as a sign of success. The roll-out of working Aadhaar-linked programmes should be - because, after all, cost savings and user-friendliness were the supposed rationale for the UID project.

However, since January 2013, when the government announced a speeded-up timetable for Aadhaar-linked programmes, it has had to retreat on its ambition. The number of programmes that were being tried and the number of districts they were being tried in were both whittled down. Political pressure from the Congress party, including from Rahul Gandhi, led to the one place that Aadhaar looked like making a difference, the household liquefied petroleum gas subsidy, being in essence withdrawn.

None of this is, of course, Mr Nilekani's fault. The blame belongs to the rest of the government. Many in government actively blocked the UID project in the early years; others were passive. Like much else in this government's tenure, the lack of co-ordination and co-operation between ministries led to the stalling of a good idea. Meanwhile, the government's inability to pass a suitable law in Parliament - in particular following an ill-judged and backward-looking attack on the UID project from the standing committee chaired by Yashwant Sinha - allowed the Supreme Court to repeatedly order the Aadhaar programme to be scaled down. Concerns over privacy issues also have not been adequately addressed. It, therefore, would be unfortunate if one of the only transformational ideas of this government is a casualty of its slowness and inefficiency, or of the BJP's desire to play politics. But that, at least, is what it seems might happen now.

5304 - Aadhaar uses technology to give a face to the poor and deserves our support - TNN

Aadhaar uses technology to give a face to the poor and deserves our support

Mar 14, 2014, 12.05 AM IST

Meenakshi Lekhi, BJP's spokesperson, has something in common with her political adversaries from the Left and Centre. All of them have Luddite views on technology's role in enhancing governance. Aadhaar — a 12-digit nationally valid unique identification number which aims to empower vulnerable citizens and enhance governance — is treated with fear because of its novelty. UPA-II's successor should support Aadhaar by providing an appropriate legislative framework. In the absence of such a framework, Aadhaar will remain vulnerable to inaccurate portrayals. 

Fears about Aadhaar typically come from doubts about its cost and efficacy, and the feeling that it will allow unprecedented state surveillance. Aadhaar is a pan-India identity, similar to a passport, driver's licence or a PAN card. Therefore, the only relevant comparison is with these difficult-to-access documents. Aadhaar can empower an increasing number of poor Indians who travel across state boundaries in search of jobs, or even stay where they were but lack other identity documents. It will help in better delivery of public services and weed out 'ghost' beneficiaries of welfare schemes. By cutting waste in government welfare, it will pay for itself many times over. 

Aadhaar was always meant to provide proof of identity and not citizenship. So it's difficult to see how illegal migrants can conceal their status using Aadhaar, as Lekhi charges. Rather, after Aadhaar has been in operation for some time it can be used to establish an electronic record of presence on Indian soil, which can deter illegal migration. Likewise, privacy issues can be taken care of once supporting legislation is in place. Aadhaar's revolutionary innovation is that it uses technology to give a face to the poor, who were otherwise faceless. BJP should not be biased against it simply because Nandan Nilekani, who conceptualised Aadhaar, is contesting on a Congress ticket.

5301 - Aadhaar implementation a threat to nation’s security: Meenakshi Lekhi and Ananth Kumar, MP,

Aadhaar implementation a threat to nation’s security: Meenakshi Lekhi and Ananth Kumar, MP,

• 12/03/2014 3:42 pm Citizen Journalist Karnataka, Top News

Terming the manner in which the Aadhaar project is being implemented as dangerous to the country’s security, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday indicated that it may review some of its aspects if it comes to power.

Speaking to presspersons here on the sidelines of an interaction with college students on election issues, BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi also sought a CBI probe into various aspects of the Aadhaar project, including the manner in which finances had been allocated for it.

When asked if the BJP would scrap the project if it comes to power, Ms. Lekhi said, “Aadhaar needs a re-look to see if anything has gone wrong and to know who stores and shares the biometric data of citizens.”

Attack on Nilekani

Earlier, at the interaction, she launched an attack on Unique Identification Authority of India chairman and Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani, who is taking on BJP’s five-time MP Ananth Kumar in Bangalore South on the Congress ticket. She said Aadhaar was a project for which one had to be condemned rather than appreciated.

“I will be ashamed to take credit for such a project,” she said.

Without taking Mr. Nilekani’s name, Ms. Lekhi alleged that the Aadhaar project was dangerous and also posed a threat to the country’s security as it regularised the stay of illegal immigrants from other countries by granting citizenship to them at the cost of the welfare of genuine residents.

‘Norms violated’
Aadhaar project had violated the Parliamentary norms and the direction issued by the Supreme Court to ensure that it was not made mandatory for offering services and foreign citizens were not enrolled under it, she said.

She also accused the UPA government of ignoring the country’s security interests by providing political positions to some of those who allegedly had links with Maoists.

5290 - Aadhaar a 'fraud', will review it if voted to power: BJP - Economic Times

Aadhaar a 'fraud', will review it if voted to power: BJP

By Amit Kumar, TNN | 12 Mar, 2014, 08.16AM IST

Questioning Nandan Nilekani's claims on Aadhaar's achievements, Meenakshi Lekhi termed the programme as a "fraud" perpetrated on the people. 

BANGALORE: The BJP on Tuesday said it would review the Aadhaar programme if it comes to power at the Centre and demanded a CBI probe into the scheme, alleging it regularized illegal stay of migrants in India.

Questioning the UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani's claims on Aadhaar's achievements, BJP national spokeswoman Meenakshi Lekhi termed the programme as a "fraud" perpetrated on the people of the country while seeking the probe.

"This is a dangerous programme to regularize the illegal stay of migrants in the country. Is Bharat Mata so open to illegal migrants? The Aadhaar is also in contravention of Supreme Court directives. The entire biometric data of people enrolled has been stored outside the country," she said during an interaction with students here.

Fielding questions from students hailing from West Bengal and Bihar on Bangladeshi migrants, BJP general secretary HN Ananth Kumar, who is facing Nilekani in Bangalore South parliamentary constituency said: "If you illegally enter other countries, you are shot at or put in jail. But if anyone illegally enters India, he is given citizenship. This is the contribution of Aadhaar. Half of Assam is occupied by Bangladeshis. Aadhaar is the biggest fraud in the country."

Meenakshi claimed there are over three crore illegal Bangladeshi immigrants spread across the country and allotting Aadhaar numbers to them posed a huge security risk to the nation. "Of 33 members in a parliamentary standing committee, 31 had voted against implementing Aadhaar programme. The apex court too had questioned its credibility. Yet the government went ahead with it," she said. 

Short of naming Nilekani, Meenakshi also questioned the expenditure incurred on Aadhaar. "A thorough CBI probe is needed on the money spent and why Aadhaar was made mandatory," she said. 

5289 - Aadhaar implementation a threat to nation’s security: Lekhi - The Hindu

BANGALORE, March 12, 2014

Updated: March 12, 2014 10:42 IST

Aadhaar implementation a threat to nation’s security: Lekhi

BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi and Ananth Kumar, MP, interacting with college students in Bangalore on Tuesday. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

‘Some of its aspects may be reviewed if BJP comes to power’

Terming the manner in which the Aadhaar project is being implemented as dangerous to the country’s security, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday indicated that it may review some of its aspects if it comes to power.

Speaking to press persons here on the sidelines of an interaction with college students on election issues, BJP national spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi also sought a CBI probe into various aspects of the Aadhaar project, including the manner in which finances had been allocated for it.

When asked if the BJP would scrap the project if it comes to power, Ms. Lekhi said, “Aadhaar needs a re-look to see if anything has gone wrong and to know who stores and shares the biometric data of citizens.”

Attack on Nilekani

Earlier, at the interaction, she launched an attack on Unique Identification Authority of India chairman and Infosys cofounder Nandan Nilekani, who is taking on BJP’s five-time MP Ananth Kumar in Bangalore South on the Congress ticket. She said Aadhaar was a project for which one had to be condemned rather than appreciated.

“I will be ashamed to take credit for such a project,” she said.

Without taking Mr. Nilekani’s name, Ms. Lekhi alleged that the Aadhaar project was dangerous and also posed a threat to the country’s security as it regularised the stay of illegal immigrants from other countries by granting citizenship to them at the cost of the welfare of genuine residents.

‘Norms violated’
Aadhaar project had violated the Parliamentary norms and the direction issued by the Supreme Court to ensure that it was not made mandatory for offering services and foreign citizens were not enrolled under it, she said.

She also accused the UPA government of ignoring the country’s security interests by providing political positions to some of those who allegedly had links with Maoists.

Keywords: Aadhaar project, Meenakshi Lekhi, biometric data of citizens