Amongst other issues which concerns the
nation at this time I would earnestly wish to bring to the table an issue which
has received numerous versions of chronicles regarding the enrolment to the Unique
Identification Authority of India. Before
proceeding further with the issue of analyzing the concept of Aadhaar, I would
like to introduce certain facts which have been published in the website of Unique
Identification Authority of India.
Aadhaar is a 12 digit individual
identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on
behalf of the Government of India. This number will serve as a proof of
identity and address, anywhere in India. Any individual, irrespective of age
and gender, who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process
laid down by the UIDAI can enroll for Aadhaar. Each individual needs to enroll
only once which is free of cost. Each Aadhaar number will be unique to an
individual and will remain valid for life. Aadhaar number will help you provide
access to services like banking, mobile phone connections and other Govt and
Non-Govt services in due course.
Some other information about Aadhaar:
Aadhaar will be:
- 1. Easily verifiable in an online, cost-effective way
- 2. Unique and robust enough to eliminate the large number of duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases
- 3. A random number generated, devoid of any classification based on caste, creed, religion and geography.
- 4. A 12 digit number.
- 5. For individuals which include infants.
- 6. Enables identification and is for every resident.
- 7. Will collect demographic and biometric information to establish uniqueness of individuals.
- 8. Voluntary.
- 9. For every resident, irrespective of existing documentation.
- 1. A unique number.
- 1. Enables a universal identity infrastructure that any ID based application like ration card, passport etc., can use.
Adhaar will not be:
- 1. Another Card.
- 2. One per family
- 3. Establishes citizenship and is only for Indians.
- 4. Will collect profiling information such as caste religion or language.
- 5. Mandatory.
- 6. Only for individuals who possess identification documents.
- 7. Individual can obtain multiple AADHAAR’s
- 8. Will replace other ID cards.
- 9. UIDAI information will be accessible to private and public agencies.
If you have had the patience to read the
above information completely in the first place, then certainly I believe that
you are ready to travel the distance to appreciate or condemn the level of
common sense subsisting behind the Aadhaar Scheme.
Would it be not better that Aadhaar Card
would be better off if it had been the Card it was not supposed to be?
This card which claims to be a unique one has
NOTHING UNIQUE IN IT! IT IS JUST ANOTHER CARD; a Scheme through which BIG
CORPORATES and POLITICIANS have cleverly has siphoned off 3000 crores of hard-earned
tax payers Indian Rupee!! Compared to the nature of scams existing in this
country; a scam with a magnitude of 3000 crores seems trivial I suppose. Even
if we are to consider 3000 crores of rupees as a trivial sum, the consequences
of this Scheme seem far more devastating than one could imagine. In due course
of time, before anyone could realize the folly, we all have been fingerprinted,
Iris-ified and all our personal information is lying with _____________?????? (you
fill it up with your imagination).
The rationale behind taking all the personal information
is baffling. They intend to give unique identification numbers to all people of
this country. Who is UIDAI to brand and issue a number to me? Am I a prisoner
to be given a number so that I do not get lost in the wilderness of a prison?
The most unique thing about being a human is that every human being is unique. The
government is a system which we ourselves have given unto ourselves and it is
subordinate to the society and the people at large. Unfortunately our country
has lost its vision to see and contemplate the issues at hand and we are slowly
moving towards a bourgeois/pheasant, society which existed in the 17th
or 18th Century. We are being
branded and the most unfortunate part is that we are voluntarily being branded.
The statements made by the authorities behind
UIDAI are contrary to themselves. On one hand they issue statements that the
information is fool-proof and will not be shared with anybody. On the other hand
they state that they will be sharing information with the food and civil
supplies department, passport authorities etc., Where is the logical reason
behind all these statements? What the hell are they trying to convey? Moreover
the scheme is not mandatory and is just voluntary. If it is not mandatory, then
how are they intending to procure the information of all the people and share the
information with Passport or Ration Card department? To which lumberjack are
they trying to convince. Imagine a worst case scenario – if a hacker/ a
terrorist hacks the UIDAI servers and has access to all the personal information,
then there will be a catastrophe of an unimaginable magnitude.
Theories have cropped up; those companies
such as Accenture, IBM who have appalling reputation outside India for having
made dirty money by the way of profiling and branding people have found a new
found profiteering strategy by which they are acting as molasses and mushrooms
which feeds off food of others as they do not have the capacity to produce food
for themselves. One of the directors of the UIDAI program Dr. Sharma says there
will be penal consequences if someone hacks into the servers and uses the data
for illegal purposes. Dr. Sharma needs to be sent to KG classes and needs to be
taught an anecdote “Prevention is always better than cure”. By making irresponsible
statements he himself has indirectly agreed upon a fact that the data could be
mis-used. If at all data cannot be kept safely they why keep it in the first
place.
Some great man has said “If men were to be
a little more intelligent, he would have known to rule. If men were to be a little
ignorant he would have learned to follow”. Irony is that we do not know the
consequences of our action. PEOPLE….ARISE & AWAKE…
CHAITANYA.S.G
P.S.:
(THE WRITER IS AN ADVOCATE PRACTICING IN THE COURTS IN BANGALORE AND HAS
HIMSELF ENROLLED WITH THE UIDAI-AADHAAR SCHEME AND IS A SHAMEFUL HOLDER OF THE
AADHAAR CARD)
