Making the Aadhar Nir- Aadhar...

After a messed up three-year process and running through Rs 11,000 crore, the great discovery of a unique identity number for each Indian may get scrapped now.  The newly elected government is planning to scrap it. Though the concept of Aadhaar card, of providing the lower strata of Indians with an identity card that could be linked to their bank accounts so that the benefits marked to them did not get lost in bureaucratic hurdles or get siphoned off by middlemen, was really ideal and great but, as of today,  in my point of view, Modi Sarkaar’s move to scarp it should be welcomed. 

Right from the beginning of the project, it had been always criticized by BJP and other activists, but the architect of the Aadhaar, Nandan Nilekani, who is now a Congress politician, as well as the UPA government, brandished the cost-benefit analysis of the card. The future of Aadhaar project was never bright but the Congress government kept on pushing the same despite various constitutional and legal infirmities.

Indian economy is facing inflation and sluggishness since long time and in such a scenario, wasting even a single penny on projects like Aadhar will be foolishness! The cost of building Aadhaar and integrating it with the government schemes was estimated around 35000 crores by UPA – II government. The government is already said to have spent around Rs 11,000 crores on the project and over 70 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued. A poor country like India should not waste an expenditure or effort on this scale, especially at this late stage.

Apart from this, there can be chances of Aadhaar as invading a person’s privacy by taking their biometrics data. The critics of the Aadhaar has always mentioned that the agency engaged in the process, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), might share the  biometric information of people with other government agencies thereby violating people’s right to privacy. They also thought that using the biometric data, people might be singled out, tracked, harassed and have their rights violated.

Also, Aadhar has no legal statute. The Constitutional Validity of Aadhaar Project has already been questioned in the High Courts and Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court has even held that Aadhaar Card/Number cannot be made mandatory for availing public services in India. Though, today it is accepted by RBI, SEBI, Railways, Telecom & IT departments, etc.  as a proof of identity or for the KYC process, but as per the Supreme court’s judgement, the entire legal basis of the card stands vulnerable.

In these circumstances continuance of Aadhaar project would be a big mistake. The Modi Government’s move seems to be ideal and hence, if it takes a decision of scrapping the project, it should be welcomed. 

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- Prateek Aloni

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