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

http://about.me/prateek.aloni 

Brain drain: Boon for developed countries, Bane for India…

I was just going through my facebook wall and I came across an image shared by my friend. The image was, Barack Obama laughing and a caption was inserted over the image as - “Come on India! Increase your reservation & quotas. Your drain, our gain!”

Well, though, the image was meant for fun, but was speaking of the truth and suggesting a wake up call… It’s a time to reality check!!!

In the recent years, the cut-offs for admissions became close to 100% in the best Indian universities. While the institutes are in the race of getting the best students in the country, the ambitious youth who fail to meet the “irrational” demands had to compromise on their dream of occupying a seat in any of the prestigious Indian universities. This leads them to explore the scope of higher education abroad.

A recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B) shows that the students going for higher studies abroad has increased by 256% in the last 10 years. When 53,000 Indian students went abroad for higher studies in 2000, the figure shot up to 1.9 lakh in 2010.

The increasing trend of brain drain of the skilled workers finally persuaded the government to take action. After witnessing a huge brain drain of doctors (among the 3,000 medical students went abroad in last three years, none returned), the health ministry has suspended issuing “no obligation to return certificates” to the medical students going abroad for higher studies.

Nowadays, the medical students going to the US for higher studies will have to sign a bond with the government, promising to return to India after completing his / her studies. If the student doesn’t fulfill the bond obligation, the ministry can write to the US and the permission for the student to practice in the country will be denied.

With better economic policies, with better facilities by industries and government promoting entrepreneurship, research friendly atmosphere, Industry – academy collaborations and the human capital to execute them, there is still hope for India. If proper measures are taken at a pacer rate, India can be saved!!! 

- Prateek Aloni

http://about.me/prateek.aloni

Should Vidarbha be seperated or not???

Recently Nagpur witnessed the referendum for a separate Vidarbha state organized by social organization Janmanch. Around five lakh people cast their vote at 450 booths across the city. The move regarding ‘Separate Vidarbha’ sparked me to think over the issue and many thoughts started hovering in my mind.

After the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre announced the formation of Telangana, immediately there was spontaneous outburst by the people of the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra because the State Reorganization Commission had recommended in 1955 that Vidarbha and Telangana should be separate states. Leaders heading the agitation for a separate Vidarbha agreed to be part of ‘Samyukta Maharashtra’ or United Maharashtra in 1953, when they signed the Nagpur Pact, Vidarbha was assured of equitable development. But in reality it didn’t happen up to people’s expectations.

 

Although Vidarbha is endowed with mineral and forest wealth, fertile soil and assured rain compared with other parts of the state, It cannot be denied that the region is economically distressed and sentimentally quite different from the rest of Maharashtra, famous for the suicides of cotton farmers. This is despite Vidarbha generating more than 70% of Maharashtra’s power, 75% cotton, 80% iron ore deposits, 58% forest cover and having all of its coal deposits. 

One reason why there is no popular agitation for Vidarbha state is that the political leadership of the region. This condition of Vidarbha is despite the state having had three chief ministers from the region, including Vasantrao Naik, who held the post for a record 11 years. Hence for the sake of development of the region in terms of employment, education and better lifestyle, people over here wants Vidarbha as a separate state.

On the other side, the decision of new states may help them to grow as an individual but it will result in down fall of India As a whole. India which is believed to be a symbol of unity, Integrity and co-operation will lose its image with such decisions. On a national level, the decision if given in favour of Vidarbha is bound to cause a ripple effect even as it demolishes the old theory that states should be formed only on linguistic basis.

So… now… It has became necessity that the government should take up a serious call on Vidarbha issue and should either develop Vidarbha at a faster rate or separate it for the sake of its better governance and development.

Sources: The Indian Express, Wikipedia, www.mapsofindia.com

- Prateek Aloni

http://about.me/prateek.aloni