[Reader-list] News Items posted on the net on Multipurpose National Identity Cards-43

[Taha Mehmood]

http://www.secureidnews.com/2008/01/08/id-cards-for-delhi-citizens-trigger-intense-debate

SecureIDNews
Government ID, Smart Cards, Identification and Authentication Technology

ID cards for Delhi citizens trigger intense debate

Tuesday, January 8, 2008 in News

The Indian government mandating all citizens in Delhi carry ID cards
after January 15th is causing debate over a police state versus
security against terrorists. The opposition party (Bhartiya Janata
Party, BJP) believes in a national citizen register for use in
passports, voting and health care while some in Congress feel it would
give the police too much power. At the time of launching the scheme in
India in November 2003, the government had stressed that the main
propose to issue multipurpose National ID cards is to provide a
credible individual identification system for improving the security
conditions and to help the e-governance by improving the
citizen-government interface.

ID cards for Delhi citizens trigger intense debate

    * BJP believes ID cards will help unmask potential terrorists
    * Congress and left parties say cards may become a potential for
'police raj'

NEW DELHI — The government order mandating all citizens living in
Indian capital Delhi to carry identity proofs after January 15 lest to
invite police action has triggered an intense debate.

Welcoming the decision, the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on
Saturday revived its campaign for a national citizen register to have
the record of every Indian citizen in the country.

"Delhi governor's decision for the security purpose is welcome as it
would trigger a debate and study of the practical difficulties that
may arise from the multiplicity of the ID proofs that the people may
have to carry while many may not have any such proof at all," BJP
spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters. He said the move initiated
in Delhi should be followed up with the issue of the multi-purpose
national identity cards (MNIC) across the country and a national
citizen register be created to keep record of these cards.

Javadekar said that such cards should be handy to carry in pocket and
have all the necessary electronic data on the person on a secure micro
processor chip implanted in them to be useful for all purposes
including elections and issue of passports and ration cards.

Unmasking terrorists: The BJP believes that the national ID cards will
not only help in enhancing national security but they would also help
in unmasking potential terrorists and guard against the illegal
immigrants.

Police raj: However, leaders in the Congress and the left parties
believed that such cards may become a potential for the police raj and
harassment of the citizens. Any citizen not having the ID card may be
even dubbed Bangladeshi as it used to happen during the NDA regime, a
Congress leader pointed out.

Others in the BJP headquarters underlined that the MNIC project was
initiated by the NDA government in November 2003 and its importance
was also underscored by then President Abdul Kalam in his 2006
Independence Day address to the nation. Though the present UPA
government has continued the pilot project launched in selected
sub-districts of 12 states and union territory of Puducherry, there
appears no urgency to put it on fast track despite acknowledging that
the national ID to every Indian citizen would go a long way in
increasing the national security.

The prime reason for then deputy prime minister and now opposition
leader Lal Krishna Advani to push for these cards was to help in
identifying the militants and the Bangladeshis allegedly staying in
India illegally. The Delhi governor's order has enthused the BJP to
once again push for such cards as a part of their campaign for
increasing the national security.

As part of the pilot project, only last May the first set of the
multi-purpose national identity cards were handed over to the citizens
of Pooth Khurd in Narela locality of the capital.

The pilot project for collection of the database of citizens and
preparation of the smart ID cards is going on in the sub-districts of
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir , Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa,
Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and
Puducherry. The project involves collection of particulars of the
individuals, photographs and finger biometrics of all those who are 18
and above. The national ID cards are prevalent in many countries
around the world, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand
and some European countries. Some countries, such as Denmark or
Sweden, make widespread use of personal identification numbers issued
at birth for all official transactions.

A debate continues in the countries like United States and United
Kingdom on the merits of adopting national ID cards as they already
have the system of the photograph-bearing driving licences for the
identification purposes.

At the time of launching the scheme in India in November 2003, the
government had stressed that the main propose to issue multipurpose
National ID cards is to provide a credible individual identification
system for improving the security conditions and to help the
e-governance by improving the citizen-government interface. [end]