[Reader-list] Is terrorism growing because we lack a UID? - 133

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All

This is perhaps the first instance of reasoned questioning of the UID
program by media organization. The questions related to UID asked in
the article below reflect a healthy skepticism not only about the
purported benefits of such a scheme but also about the its
foundational logic.

I.5 Lakh crore- is the sum of money which will be transferred in the
name of protecting this nation from ' illegal immigrants' and
'providing benefits' to the poorest to the poor. When most of the
Indians live undocumented lives, one wonders how would this exercise
be carried out? One also thinks why some prominent members of the
main-stream media is in awe of Nandan Nilekeni Saheb. We recently saw
Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN showering praise to Nilekeni Saheb's
vision for India which includes a national identity card.

Regards

Taha





http://news.in.msn.com/columns/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3065458

Is terrorism growing because we lack a UID?

To establish my nationality as an India, I do have multiple ID cards
issued by various government agencies like the election identity card,
driving license, passport, PAN and what not. But the UPA-II government
feels these cards are not enough and I, like all other citizens of the
country, must possess one more card, that's the Unique
Identification(UID) card.

The government seeks to achieve three-fold objectives by issuing the
UID cards: 1. Enhance national security; 2. Check illegal immigration,
particularly from Bangladesh; 3.Ensure that the benefits of government
welfare schemes reach the targeted sections. Regarding the first
objective, government thinks that UID will ensure identification of
terrorists and thus curb the menace. But is cross-border terrorism
growing just because we don't have a UID?

The failure of the intelligence machinery in India, absence of a
well-trained anti-terror force, lack of aggressiveness in India's
policy towards Pakistan and, above all, the overt support received by
terror outfits from the Pakistani regime are some of the reasons why
terrorism is growing? All these factors were as clear as daylight in
the recent Mumbai attacks. How can UID curb terrorism if these factors
are not addressed by the government?

About illegal immigration, the successive Central governments have
been culpably indifferent to this problem, so much so most Bengladeshi
immigrants in Delhi and Kolkata have managed to get even ration cards
and electoral identity cards! In some constituencies, the illegal
immigrant voters are said to be so strong as to determine the winner
and the loser. If the illegal immigrants can manage to get ration
cards and election ID cards from the administration, why can't they
get a UID? So the problem here is rampant corruption in
administration, not the absence of a citizen identification mechanism.

Why do the benefits of government schemes not reach the targeted
sections? This is because the lion's share of the allocations for such
schemes are siphoned off by the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats.
This politician-bureaucrat nexus is responsible for irregularities
prevailing in the public distribution system. If the government cannot
break this powerful nexus and eliminate corruption, how can just a UID
card ensure proper distribution of government's welfare package?

There are gross discrepancies in the issue of various identity cards
in force now. It is no secret that a major portion of the BPL(Below
the Poverty Line) cards issued to avail of subsidised food commodities
through the PDS is bogus. A report states that there are 97 million
BPL cards in the country whereas the number of BPL families come to
only 58 million. Nandan Nilekani, who has been appointed chairman of
the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), himself mentions
in his celebrated book `Imagining India' that the number of BPL cards
in his home state of Karnataka exceeds the total population of the
state. This is because the cards are issued indiscriminately, thus
denying the benefits of PDS to the really deserving. The story is the
same as regards an estimated 65 million kisan credit cards in
circulation in the country.

How does the government propose to prevent similar fraud in the issue
of national ID card? Where is the guarantee that the same corrupt
forces which took advantage of the BPL cards won't abuse the UID also?
Is the government willing to give a public commitment that the issue
of UID will be transparent and corruption-free?

The entire ID card project is estimated to cost around Rs 1.5 lakh
crore. No doubt, it will offer a multi-billion dollar business
opportunity for the domestic technology players, with the first phase
of the project — which will cover ultra urban, urban, and semi-urban
populations — alone offering a Rs 6,500 crore business opportunity.
But the business part apart, is such a mammoth spending justified? If
this ambitious programme falters at the implementation level like
other such ID cards did, what will be the drain on the public
exchequer? Rather than embarking on a new identification card at such
colossal cost, shouldn't the government have made an honest attempt to
plug the loopholes in the present system of issuing ID cards? Did the
government set the right priority in taking up the UID project? Only
time will tell.

Speak up: Do you think UID will serve the intended purpose?