[Reader-list] (National Identity Card ) A digital Pandora's box - 153

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Rajen and Deal All,

Thank you for your mail. Now that an argument has been presented about
my pre-occupation, please allow me to state what my preoccupations
really are.

My preoccupations are as follows-

I am interested in bringing to your kind notice all those views, which
I could garner and which exist in the public domain, in a primarily
textual form, on and about the idea of national identity card.

Following which I am interested in having a modest public debate
involving at least half a billion Indians (although I dream of getting
the whole billion of us together), that whether we need a national
identity card or not and whether we think that spending 1.5 Lakh Crore
rupees in our name would benefit us all or not.

Further more, I believe that as a citizen of India it is my
responsibility to raise informed questions addressed to my government
regarding any money that they want to spend in my name.

For instance-

If ID cards have existed since independence  in various forms then why
they were unable to act as a channel through which benefit to the poor
could not be reached?

Moreover, it baffles me to no end that why so much of faith is being
put in a technology- when every one knows that technology changes
every five years, and when every technology can be reverse engineered
to be copied? Who will really benefit from such a huge transfer of
public money? Whose benefit is the government really bothered about?

Warm regards

Taha