By Ram Krishnaswamy
9th December 2010
Aadhaar is a technological solution looking for a problem.
To date we have had no clear explanation from UIDAI on what Aadhaar can truly solve yet the Government of India (GoI) has been coaxed to authorise an expenditure of Rs 45000 crores (about US $ 9 billion) just to issue a 12 digit number and a bar code to the most vulnerable people.
Any one questioning Aadhaar is given a standard response that reads “As I said...it is tough to 'debate' misinformation and disinformation.” This leads us to believe that all the information published in UIDAI web site is ‘misinformation and disinformation’ as most questions being raised are based on the information provided by UIDAI in the web site and propagated through the media.
On 28th August, Mr.R.S.Sharma, Director General of UIDAI, an IIT Kanpur alumnus and an IAS officer and second in command to UIDAI Chief Nandan Nilekani wrote in his EPW article “The article “A Unique Identity Bill” (EPW, 24 July 2010) reflects some fundamental misunderstandings on the objectives of the Unique Identity Authority of India, the features of the identity number, and the impact it will have on privacy”.
If Aadhaar was on strong footings, UIDAI officials will seize opportunities to answer questions raised as opposed to questioning people’s capacity to understand the objectives of UIDAI.
To date not only has there been no public debate on the authenticity of Aadhaar; the UIDAI chief will not agree to a public Q & A session. Several IIT alumni had requested a Q & A Session with Nandan Nilekani at the PanIIT 2010 meet in October at Noida and the request has been ignored to date. If he will not talk to other IITians it is unlikely he will agree to a public debate on TV.
The very foundation of Aadhaar that assumes that the “poor have no identity” is shallow and unstable.
Educated Indians will not accept being told that that they have “no identity” as it questions their parentage and legitimacy of birth.
Aadhaar is tantamount to bastardisation of the poor and branding the poor for life, institutionalising poverty.
Aadhaar will divide a nation already fragmented by religion, caste and language with a new criteria called Aadhaar that draws a clear & distinct line between the "haves and the have nots"
The poor who accept Aadhaar without fully understanding the lifetime implications will be branded “Poor for Life” and issued a Bar Code. No educated person with any self respect will volunteer to register for Aadhaar to be branded poor for life and this means it will result in victimisation of the illiterate masses who do not understand and who look up to the government for some aid to tide over poverty and hunger for the present and not necessarily in perpetuity.
The irony is that a scheme that assumes the poor have no recognisable identity for GoI to issue subsidies, demands that people produce identification papers as proof of identity to register for Aadhaar. Does this make sense?
Can Aadhaar fix the PDS that is leaking so badly? Afraid not - only because Aadhaar assumes that the PDS is not working as the leakage is in the “last mile”, where the needy poor are greedy and have multiple identities double dipping into govt subsidies. The ground reality is that the very poor do not even have enough money to be able to buy a full month’s ration and as such fore go a large percentage of their monthly entitlements.
What can Aadhaar do besides de-duplication and authentication to establish that a poor starving & malnourished Indian deserves his rations?
- How will Aadhaar save millions of tonnes of food grain rotting all over the nation?
- How will Aadhaar prevent illegal sales of PDS grains interstate?
- How will Aadhaar prevent millions of tonnes of PDS rice from being illegally exported to Singapore & Malaysia?
- Can Aadhaar stop local PDS officials selling food grains at a higher price?
- How will Aadhaar stop large scale diversion of PDS food grains in transit?
- Does Aadhaar not wrongly assume that it is the poor population “in the last mile”, who are the main cheats and have multiple ration cards under bogus names, which is to be tackled through de-duplication?
- Will UIDAI authority acknowledge that the bogus ration cards are mostly owned and held by PDS officials and Ration shop owners who fudge sales that never took place and then sell the grains at a much higher price to general public making huge profits?
- PDS is described as a sham and a scam and an abject failure. Will Govt money not be better spent plugging all the loop holes and cleaning up the PDS system, as opposed to targeting the very poor PDS is supposed to assist? Why create one more unwieldy monster called UIDAI to issue Aadhaar to resurrect an out of control PDS & NREGA?
Is it fair to state that UIDAI authority will take four or even five long years to issue Aadhaar to 600 million people and it will take many more years and many more billions to have biometric scanners, computers and internet connections installed in ration shops around the nation and that means for another ten years the PDS & NREGA rort will continue?
If Aadhaar is a mega project can we ask the Project Manager the following questions:
- Is there a cost benefit analysis for the Aadhaar project? If yes can it be uploaded in the UIDAI web site please.
- Aadhaar is useless until scanners are available for authentication. Finance ministry has approved a budget of Rs 7000 crores a year for the next four years. Does this budget include the cost of authentication equipment like biometric scanners, micro ATMs, computers and internet connectivity?
- Should the costing for the project not be disclosed to the public?
- If poor had money they would not be classified poor and would have taken to bank accounts as they have taken to mobile phones in India. Poor do not need bank accounts as they have no money to deposit in banks. Is the nation justified in forcing national banks to create about 600 millions bank accounts that would be dormant but for two transactions a month, one for the govt deposit and the other for withdrawal of this paltry sum?
- What is the opportunity cost to India? Alleviating poverty levels? Investing in agricultural projects and assisting the farmers? Creating employment for those Aadhaar is claiming to assist and help them come out of the poverty trap?
- As Aadhaar is not compulsory can an individual not have two identities; one with real name and identity documents like passports, driving license and bank accounts and the other with Aadhaar using an alias with associated biometrics? Can Aadhaar prevent this fraud as it is not compulsory?
- If the concept of ID Cards has been abandoned in USA, UK and Australia due to cost & privacy implications why are these not real issues in India? Do the poor in India not have a right to Privacy?
- How can any system that is optional provide a complete solution? Does this not mean that despite Aadhaar large sections of disadvantaged people will still be left out of the system?
These are just a few questions and there are many more related to biometrics which shall be raised when some of these questions get answered.
The questions raised by the concerned members of the public need to be answered; they cannot be dismissed as results of ‘misinformation and disinformation’.
UIDAI cannot coerce an entire nation into Silence on the Aadhaar Project.
About the author:
Ram Krishnaswamy
B.Tech. IIT Madras, M.Bldg.Sc. Uni of Sydney. MIE(Aust) MAAS
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RAM KRISHNASWAMY
30th September 2010
What happens when you cross borders ?
If You Cross The North Korean Border Illegally You Get 12 Years Hard Labour.
If You Cross The Iranian Border Illegally You Are Detained Indefinitely.
If You Cross The Afghan Border Illegally, You Get Shot.
If You Cross The Saudi Arabian Border Illegally You Will Be Jailed.
If You Cross The Chinese Border Illegally You May Never Be Heard From Again.
If You Cross The Venezuelan Border Illegally You Will Be Branded a Spy And Your Fate Will Be Sealed.
If You Cross The Cuban Border Illegally You Will Be Thrown Into Political Prison To Rot.
If You Enter Britain Illegally You Will Arrested, Prosecuted And Sent To Prison And Deported
But if f You Cross the Indian Border You Get...
A Ration Card,
-Passport ( 1 or more)
-Haj Subsidy,
-Job,
-A Drivers License,
-Voter Identity Card,
-Job Reservation,
-Special Privileges,
-Credit Cards,
-Subsidized Rent Or A Loan To Buy A House,
-Free Education,
-Free Health Care,
-A Lobbyist In New Delhi
-And Voting Rights!!
-NREGA Card
If you have recently entered the country then just pay your local panchayat man who will help you apply for Aadhaar.
Once you get your Aadhaar you can then claim to be a resident of India ( there is no differentiation between citizens and residents any longer in India ) and apply for all the cards listed above
Remember you can consolidate all this with your own unique UIN / UID / Aadhar.. Fairly soon
We Welcome you to India with open arms
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Posted 30th September 2010
Orissa to add 12 more specifications to UID
We assumed that UIDAI Chief Nandan Nilekani was incharge of the UIDAI databse and decided what information would be gathered guaranteening the Privacy that is paramount.
We now see that the Orissa government has overruled UIDAI chief and as decided it is going to include a whole range of other information on every individual, “ While UID would have details of an individual like his or her name, sex and other datas, the state government has decided to include information like card holders ration card number, BPL/APL number, NREGS data, Driving License number, PAN number, photo i-card number, passport number, kissan and credit card number, LPG consumer number, Rastriya Swasthya Vikas Yojana number, pension I-d number and pass book number”
Does this mean UIDAI database will be modified to include all these few fields ?
Can NN stop them ? Or has he lost control already ?
Can each and every state govt decide on what information is to be captured by UIDAI registrars ?
Did NN not guarantee that UIDAI will only authenticate people ?
How is it that Orissa can use Aadhaar to conect to all info on the individual including pass book number..?
Forget about the poor and illiterate, will you and I register for an Aadhaar that links to our driving licence, passport, credit card, bank accounts numbers, PAN no, Photo ID card No, even if we do not belong to BPl/APL and have NREGA card or RSVY no?.
This is precisely what Privacy advocates feared all along.
Can some one please tell Nandan that Politicians are not going to abide by his rules and will abuse the system he is creating and that he is being used to create a monster that he will not be able to control ?
While NN guaranteed the information gathered will not be abused, we can see the erosion already and what will happen after NN leaves UIDAI ?
Aadhaar is a monster that will destroy democracy and freedom for all Indians, unless common sense prevails and we stop it now.
What a sad state of affairs.
Ram
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Subject: Orissa to add 12 more specifications to UID
Orissa to add 12 more specifications to UID
PTI | 08:09 PM,Sep 29,2010
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/orissa-to-add-12-more-specifications-to-uid/363616.html
Bhubaneswar, Sept 30 (PTI) Orissa government today decided to include at least a dozen more specifications to the Unique Identity (UID), christened as "Aadhaar", a national project launched to document profile of every individual in the country. This was decided at a high level meeting attended by chief secretary, director census, Orissa and other officials. While UID would have details of an individual like his or her name, sex and other datas, the state government has decided to include information like card holders ration card number, BPL/APL number, NREGS data, Driving License number, PAN number, photo i-card number, passport number, kissan and credit card number, LPG consumer number, Rastriya Swasthya Vikas Yojana number, pension I-d number and pass book number. As the Central government is undertaking a big exercise to prepare UID, it would be appropriate to add some more data regarding a person, said chief secretary B K Patnaik adding that six important places in the state were identified to execute the gigantic work. Stating that the work for the bio-metric data collection for preparation of UID would start in December from eight KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) districts, he said demographic data capturing work had already been started by identifying as many as 95 lakh families. The people of Orissa could expect getting UID from May/June, 2011, an official said adding a sub-committee had been formed under the chairmanship of additional development commissioner (ADC) where secretaries of housing and urban development, IT, labour and employment and civil supplies and consumer welfare department, were members.The director of census will negotiate between the state government and the Centre.
__Subject: Orissa to add 12 more specifications to UID
Orissa to add 12 more specifications to UID
PTI | 08:09 PM,Sep 29,2010
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/orissa-to-add-12-more-specifications-to-uid/363616.html
Bhubaneswar, Sept 30 (PTI) Orissa government today decided to include at least a dozen more specifications to the Unique Identity (UID), christened as "Aadhaar", a national project launched to document profile of every individual in the country. This was decided at a high level meeting attended by chief secretary, director census, Orissa and other officials. While UID would have details of an individual like his or her name, sex and other datas, the state government has decided to include information like card holders ration card number, BPL/APL number, NREGS data, Driving License number, PAN number, photo i-card number, passport number, kissan and credit card number, LPG consumer number, Rastriya Swasthya Vikas Yojana number, pension I-d number and pass book number. As the Central government is undertaking a big exercise to prepare UID, it would be appropriate to add some more data regarding a person, said chief secretary B K Patnaik adding that six important places in the state were identified to execute the gigantic work. Stating that the work for the bio-metric data collection for preparation of UID would start in December from eight KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) districts, he said demographic data capturing work had already been started by identifying as many as 95 lakh families. The people of Orissa could expect getting UID from May/June, 2011, an official said adding a sub-committee had been formed under the chairmanship of additional development commissioner (ADC) where secretaries of housing and urban development, IT, labour and employment and civil supplies and consumer welfare department, were members.The director of census will negotiate between the state government and the Centre.
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posted 28th September 2010
29th September 2010, will go down in history as a sad day, when poor and illiterate masses will be herded in like cattle in Nandurbar in Maharashtra to be “BRANDED” for life and issued a Unique number and a Barcode that is not so Unique anymore called “Aadhaar”.
This will be followed by branding 600 million voiceless poor and illiterate masses in the next four years with IT companies & American Consultants raking in as much as Rs 45000 crores of US$ 9 Billion that could have been used to boost primary education and health services.
Not only the poor, Aadhaar numbers will be forcefully issued to school children from first class to 10th standards.. How could something that is meant to be optional be forced on children is a question that we have to ask ? Do the children, citizens of tomorrow have a choice ? Do we as parents have a choice to decide if our school going children should register for Aadhaar or not ? I see this as a cunning ploy by UIDAI to make what is touted as optional as a compulsory registration.
Aadhaar is based on a false premise marketed through “Imagining India” by Nandan Nilekani, that has very very weak foundations such as, giving the poor the identity that the Govt lacks to provide its services through PDS and NREGA.
If you are reading this you have to be educated. Please ask yourself the question if you as an educated Indian will queue up for Aadhaar. If not why not ?
Not only the poor, Aadhaar numbers will be forcefully issued to school children from first class to 10th standards.. How could something that is meant to be optional be forced on children is a question that we have to ask ? Do the children, citizens of tomorrow have a choice ? Do we as parents have a choice to decide if our school going children should register for Aadhaar or not ? I see this as a cunning ploy by UIDAI to make what is touted as optional as a compulsory registration.
Aadhaar is based on a false premise marketed through “Imagining India” by Nandan Nilekani, that has very very weak foundations such as, giving the poor the identity that the Govt lacks to provide its services through PDS and NREGA.
If you are reading this you have to be educated. Please ask yourself the question if you as an educated Indian will queue up for Aadhaar. If not why not ?
Would you like to have all your pieces of identity like Passport, Driving Licence, PAN Card, Ration Card, Mobile Phone numbers, Bank account number etc etc all linked up by one common number called Aadhaar. Would you like your tax man to know details of all your bank accounts and savings ? If the answer is yes, I have nothing to say.
If your answer is no, then if it is not good for you and me why is it being forced on the poor and illiterate and innocent school children who do not have a clue about consequences, where this very Aadhaar can be abused by people in power and law enforcers in years to come.
On the other hand if Aadhaar was to be compulsorily issued to all central and state public servants and is to be used to weed out corruption it makes sense as it will save the nation billions that can be used for the betterment of society.
If your answer is no, then if it is not good for you and me why is it being forced on the poor and illiterate and innocent school children who do not have a clue about consequences, where this very Aadhaar can be abused by people in power and law enforcers in years to come.
On the other hand if Aadhaar was to be compulsorily issued to all central and state public servants and is to be used to weed out corruption it makes sense as it will save the nation billions that can be used for the betterment of society.
No we do not want to touch corrupt officials who swindle thousands of crores yet we want to use Aadhaar for de duplication to ensure that no poor man can get twice the amount of the 35 Kg rice he is allotted per month. The reality is that most poor cannot even afford to buy the full allocated quota of 35 kg per month as they do not have the money.. 35 KG at Rs 3 works out to Rs 105 and here is UIDAI that will issue bank accounts to people who cannot afford Rs 105 a month to avail their full quota of rice..and to make this possible all national banks have signed MOUs with UIDAI now NIAI to get a share of 600 million new bank accounts that will have no money in them
UIDAI which has now become NIAI and sounds like “Truth” is a Mega untruth & a swindle by the IT sector. The Cabinet and the PM are going along only to save face at this point of time. The resistance is mounting and UIDAI officials like Director General of UIDAI Mr. R.S.Sharma cannot tell NAC members that questions raised “reflects some fundamental misunderstandings on the objectives of the UIDAI”. Mr Sharma should realise that NAC members raising questions are better qualified than he is on socio economic matters
The FBI in USA has only 55 million records and 100 000 verifications each day and used only for security purposes and to track criminals or potential terrorists which is justified.
Aadhaar Computer on the othe hand ( if successful) will contain at least 600 million records if not 1.2 Billion and will require 2 to 3 million authentications on a daily basis as a minimum, only to issue NREGA payments and PDS allocations.
Does India need this white elephant to care for the poor when we have simpler solutions staring us in the face like decentralisng PDS and empowering Panchayats ?
UIDAI which has now become NIAI and sounds like “Truth” is a Mega untruth & a swindle by the IT sector. The Cabinet and the PM are going along only to save face at this point of time. The resistance is mounting and UIDAI officials like Director General of UIDAI Mr. R.S.Sharma cannot tell NAC members that questions raised “reflects some fundamental misunderstandings on the objectives of the UIDAI”. Mr Sharma should realise that NAC members raising questions are better qualified than he is on socio economic matters
The FBI in USA has only 55 million records and 100 000 verifications each day and used only for security purposes and to track criminals or potential terrorists which is justified.
Aadhaar Computer on the othe hand ( if successful) will contain at least 600 million records if not 1.2 Billion and will require 2 to 3 million authentications on a daily basis as a minimum, only to issue NREGA payments and PDS allocations.
Does India need this white elephant to care for the poor when we have simpler solutions staring us in the face like decentralisng PDS and empowering Panchayats ?
But then how can we expect a billionaire Indian, who confesses he knows more about New York than villages in India to know how to serve the poor in India ?
Not long before citizens of the largest democracy in the world wake up and put an end to Aadhaar..
"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
The question is are we a free people who can participate in decisions afffecting our lives and destinies or should we allow self professed wizard & IT czar like Nandan Nilekani to make these decisions for 1.2 billion people ?
"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
The question is are we a free people who can participate in decisions afffecting our lives and destinies or should we allow self professed wizard & IT czar like Nandan Nilekani to make these decisions for 1.2 billion people ?
“Hi-tech without Panchayati Raj is just a bogus stunt for geeks and nerds." Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress leader
Ram Krishnaswamy, Sydney, Australia
http://aadhararticles.blogspot.com/
http://questioningaadhaar.blogspot.com/
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"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"
Ram Krishnaswamy, Sydney, Australia
http://aadhararticles.blogspot.com/
http://questioningaadhaar.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to post your comments on the article in the blog & Please let me know if you wish to unsubscribe
"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”
“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".
"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."
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Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress leader
