UID project comes under fire
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COMMENTS 
The National Advisory Council is the latest group of concerned people to ask for more information and consultation on the unique identification (UID) project that could cost the taxpayer a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh crore
The Indian government’s much-hyped unique identification (UID) project (or Aadhaar) is being questioned on several fronts. In August 2010, a coalition of 100 NGOs held a meeting in Delhi and subsequently sent a petition to the prime minister, UPA chairperson and heads of government demanding the project be scrapped. The Hindustan Times carried a report on September 1 quoting members of the prestigious National Advisory Council (the apex body headed by United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi) calling for more discussion and clarity on exactly how the UID will work. The NAC will meet Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority, to seek further information.
There are a number of concerns: whether the vast expenditure is justified, possible misuse of the data, whether it compromises an individual’s privacy, whether it will really address the problems it is meant to, etc.
Under the project every Indian will receive a permanent ID card with a unique number, photograph and biometric data. It is targeted at cutting down identity-related fraud, addressing security issues, and ensuring that the poor have access to basic services. It is also supposed to facilitate issuance of passports, driving licences, and electoral identity cards. But how it will do this, and whether it will end up eliminating the enormous waste of time, energy and resources of ordinary citizens when dealing with these issues currently, is not clear.
The project is set to roll out this year, with 100 million people being issued UIDs. It will cover around 600 million people within five years.
One of the claims made by government is that the project will stop leakages in the public distribution system (PDS). Another is that the UID will lead to the financial inclusion of beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
But there are doubts about whether issuing a 12-digit number to the poor will really help them access cheap food and get rid of the corruption and non-inclusion of families under the poverty line (BPL) that plague the PDS. It is also unclear whether the many well-documented problems that plague the NREGS will disappear as a result of the UID.
The meeting of NGOs noted that the functioning of UID had been non-transparent and undemocratic so far. Despite setting up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in June 2009, the government is yet to issue a white paper on the scheme and how it is going to go about delivering basic social services to the poor.
“They say UID will reform systems like the PDS, but there are no details of how it will be available in the public domain,” activist Aruna Roy, member of the NAC, said.
In fact, lack of information on exactly how the UID will work is the biggest concern. There are calls for the project to be halted and a committee to be appointed to look into these issues. There is no clarity on how the UID card will work with other cards such as the PAN and ration cards, and passport number, which are apparently going to continue.
Another major concern is whether the vast database that the government is building up will compromise a person’s privacy, and whether it is “building an infrastructure for future authoritarianism in the country,” as one commentator put it. There are concerns about the misuse of personal information if the UID is extended to a spectrum of services, most of which are increasingly being privatised.
Doubts are being cast about the technology too. Some experts say that using biometrics as a core authenticator is deeply flawed as it has never been tested on such a large scale, and is easily susceptible to forgery. Nilekani admitted in a television interview that “there is no question that this is a project where we are going into uncharted territory; the technological challenges are immense and one of the risks of this project is the technology”.
Then there is the expense and the fact that several companies will gain massive contracts from the public exchequer. Budget estimates vary from Rs 45,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Developed countries that have tried to introduce the kind of complete ID card that India envisages have not been able to push it through, for the same reasons that critics in India are citing -- invasion of privacy, high cost, unproven benefits, and untested technology.
Source: The Hindustan Times, September 1, 2010
Moneylife, September 1, 2010
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