"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".
Edmund Burke
"Among a people generally corrupt liberty cannot long exist".
Edmund Burke
“In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”
Mahatma Gandhi
"Democracy was the greatest gift of our freedom struggle to the people of India. Independence made the nation free. Democracy made our people free. A free people are a people who are governed by their will and ruled with their consent. A free people are a people who participate in decisions affecting their lives and their destinies".
Rajiv Gandhi
Hi-tech without Panchayati Raj is just a bogus stunt for geeks and nerds."
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress leader

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

GOVERNANCE NOW

GOVERNANCE NOW 

Twenty hours to launch, civil society raises red flag on UID project
UID an exact opposite of RTI Act: Nikhil Dey
SAMIR SACHDEVA | SEPTEMBER 28 2010

SAMIR SACHDEVA
Samir has over ten years of experience with organizations like TCS, GOI, HCL, NISG , EY. He is working as assistant editor with Governance Now

With prime minister, Manamohan Singh and UPA chairperson, Sonia Gandhi all set to hand over first set of unique identity numbers to the villagers in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, the civil society has raised multiple concerns over the project.  Seventeen eminent individuals have raised concerns on the manner in which Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) has been constituted on basis of government notification and the risks it poses to civil liberties with the convergence of UID and NATgrid project.


Through a signed letter the activists working in different areas have asked the government to halt the project, initiate a feasibility study, analyze the constitutional implications, bring a privacy act, do a cost benefit analysis and initiate a public debate on the UID.  The signatories included Justice VR Krishna Iyer, Prof Romila Thapar, K.G.Kannabiran, Kavita Srivastava, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, S.R.Sankaran, Deep Joshi, Upendra Baxi, Uma Chakravarthi, Shohini Ghosh, Amar Kanwar, Bezwada Wilson, Trilochan Sastry, Prof. Jagdeep S. Chhokar, Shabnam Hashmi and Justice A.P.Shah.


While addressing a press conference here today Nikhil Dey of MKSS said that UID is direct opposite of the RTI Act. He mentioned that the RTI enables citizens to know everything about the government and UID will allow government to know everything about citizen. Justice A P Shah, retired judge of Delhi High Court expressed his apprehensions that various actors of the state may misuse such information in case of state sponsored violence. However on question that if it can be challenged in the court, Justice Shah mentioned that this being a policy matter cannot be challenged in court.


Representatives of civil society organization also apprehended that the suggested benefits in schemes like NREGA and PDS may not materialize due to different ground realities. They raised concerns about privacy, surveillance, profiling as a result of the UID. They highlighted that countries like US, Australia and UK have abandoned similar concerns on privacy and cost concerns.
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