[Reader-list] ID’ing the masses may solve Indian identity crisis-190

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All, and ( Dear Nandan Nilekani )

The article below is a real smart one. Please notice the way in which
spin is given to both NIC and Nandu. Reading so many of these so
called -news- pieces on MNIC/UID, one now craves, for a proper
-theory- on news media's notion of spin.

 Let me cite some wonderful examples-

1. "Every piece of life becomes easier," he said. "Just the simple act
of saying I stand by who this person claims he is. Can you imagine the
value of that?"

The above statement was uttered by our good friend Nandan Nilekani !!

So what is this statement supposed to mean anyways?

No, I don't understand the  meaning of -value-  and -piece of life-,
what does it mean? Also how many people will go for a notion that a
national identity card will make discrepancies arising from a rigid
caste system go away? Or for that matter had any one thought how much
of a crucial role an identity document could  play in perhaps
re-enforcing caste system? Now, that everyone knows, who is who, then,
why not practice exclusion systematically?

2. "It will take years and years and years," Nilekani said. "Even if
it costs a bit of money, if a few hundred million poor people get
better public services, it's worth its weight in gold."

Ah!!! The Phoor!! Oh!! the Phoor!!! Aaahhh we want to do -something-
for them Phoor!! Good, good!!!

4000 years it will take  you Nandan Nilekani,  to completely
-identify- all Indians, going by the rate at which 12 lakh were
rendered visible during the pilot project.

If you are as honest as you claim to be then you must not indulge
these sham exercises by merging and purging the data contained in LPG
lists, PAN cards lists and so on, because these lists are infested
with bogus and false entries. We all know this.

Please take the responsibility of identifying Indians, all of 1.2
billion of us, seriously. Please identify us ONE BY ONE. If you have
patience, diligence and guts then please go ahead and build a
completely foolproof personal identification document base. We will be
grateful to you.

and then more Phoor!!!

3. "I need a card that will work all over India," said fisherman Shiv
Kumar Chinna Coundar, 38.

Every time he docks in a port in a different state, he has to get
permission from the customs office. The more permissions required, the
more "chai pani" -- literally, "tea water," a local term for bribes --
you have to pay, he and others say.

If any one in their right frame of mind thinks that corruption will
disappear from India once these Id cards will come into play must
consult a psychiatrist immediately? There is no co-relationship
between the two. The nature of corruption may change but corruption
will remain.

Please have a look below for more spin.

Warm regards

Taha



http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/lifestyles/health_med_fit/article/I-INDI0720_20090806-183605/284436/

ID’ing the masses may solve Indian identity crisis



ERIKA KINETZ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 8, 2009

MUMBAI, India -- It's a problem of mind-boggling complexity: How do
you identify 1.2 billion people without documents, who sometimes rely
just on word of mouth to establish who they are?

The man tasked with solving this problem is outsourcing guru Nandan
Nilekani, who rose to prominence as a founder of Infosys Technologies
Ltd., India's second-largest outsourcing firm. He began work last
month as director of the Unique Identification Authority of India, an
ambitious new government initiative that aims to assign unique,
verifiable identification numbers to every single Indian.

"It keeps me awake at night, thinking what the hell have I got into,"
said Nilekani, 54.

Indians of means can flash passports, driver's licenses and credit
cards to establish who they are. But the poor rely on a jumble of
electricity bills, ration cards, voting cards, and letters from local
officials -- none of which is foolproof.

That has made it harder for them to get jobs, open bank accounts and
establish property rights, stymieing their ability to participate in,
and in turn fuel, India's growth. It also has increased the potential
for graft in India's massive social subsidy programs.

Nilekani has become an expert at expounding the revolutionary social
potential of technology.

"Identity has become a basis for exclusion," he said over coffee in
Mumbai, shortly before he started his new job. "The poor have no
access to identity. Therefore all the time they are running around
re-establishing their identity." His best-selling 2008 book,
"Imagining India: Ideas for the New Country," reads like a blueprint
for improving governance in India -- though he insists that when he
wrote it he wasn't plugging for public office. The book even has a
section devoted to national identity cards, which he said would be
"transformational" in improving the quality of government services,
reducing graft and making India's economic growth more inclusive.

"Every piece of life becomes easier," he said. "Just the simple act of
saying I stand by who this person claims he is. Can you imagine the
value of that?"

His challenge is twofold: He must get everyone -- including people in
remote tribal areas -- an identification number, and he must ensure
that there are no duplicates.

Nilekani plans to create a central database of names, modeled on
India's electronic securities depository, and use biometrics --
probably some combination of fingerprint and facial identification --
to ensure that every Indian gets assigned one and only one number.

The first batch of IDs will come out in 12 to 18 months, he said, but
he declined to specify how long it might take to complete the rollout.
The agency's initial budget is $24.6 million, but the total cost will
likely be far higher.

"It will take years and years and years," Nilekani said. "Even if it
costs a bit of money, if a few hundred million poor people get better
public services, it's worth its weight in gold." Just ask Pralhad
Dandekar. The wiry 58-year-old fisherman has been waiting two years
for the state government to issue him the fisherman identity card he
is required to carry with him when he heads out to sea.

"I wait, wait, wait," he said.

The process of getting a fisherman ID card, which became compulsory
for fishermen after the November terror attack on Mumbai, is so
predictably and excruciatingly slow that at least three dozen
fishermen societies in Mumbai have started issuing temporary cards so
people can work while they await their state government ID. Dandekar
has one, and that's the only reason he can ply his trade -- and bring
food home for his wife and two daughters -- while he waits.

The complexity does not end there.

All those cards are only good in the state of Maharashtra.

"I need a card that will work all over India," said fisherman Shiv
Kumar Chinna Coundar, 38.

Every time he docks in a port in a different state, he has to get
permission from the customs office. The more permissions required, the
more "chai pani" -- literally, "tea water," a local term for bribes --
you have to pay, he and others say.

"If they gave us a national identity card, then I wouldn't have to pay
chai pani in any state," Coundar said. There's also the question of
security. Absent a foolproof way to establish who someone is, many
only hire people they know, which cuts off the stream of hungry
migrants who pour into Mumbai from jobs.

Boat owner Laxman Hiraji Dhanur, 60, said he has become more concerned
about security since last year's terror attack on Mumbai.

Dhanur lives amid a bright jumble of fishing boats, now docked for the
monsoon rains, in Bhai Bhandarkar Machimar Colony -- the same fishing
village that 10 Pakistani attackers sneaked through in November before
fanning out in pairs to lay siege to the city, killing 166.

He said he can never know for certain if people are who they say -- or
even if they are really Indian citizens.

"I only hire my relatives and friends," Dhanur said. "If we had a
foolproof national identity card, I wouldn't worry so much."

He said he might even hire strangers. Writ large, that small shift in
attitude could mean easier access to jobs for millions of Indians. And
that would be a transformation.