[Reader-list] UID CARD BENEFIT

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear Bipin,

Thank you for your mail. I am amazed at the conviction of your
thoughts. May I just say, I feel very jealous of you!! Unfortunately
this conviction eludes me. Let me tell you why. Lets look at the idea
of a second. Now they say, a second is a unit to measure time.
Similarly a meter is a unit to measure distance. A gram is a unit to
measure weight. These entities appear clear because they can be
measured. The different units of these entities are universally
applicable and universally acceptable. Now I would like to know from
you is this- what is a precise unit of measurement of -an identity of
a person-.

I understand you appear to be a big fan of the advantages of UID. I
think you are probably right. I think advantages will come after the
census is done. A census will be done after an aggregate measure of
individual identities is  gathered. The an aggregate measure of
individual identities will be gathered after the data is be entered.
The data will be entered after the data is verified. The data will be
verified after it is individually collected. The data will be
individually collected after the forms are filled correctly. The forms
will be entered correctly after they are printed correctly. The will
be printed correctly after the categories are formulated correctly.
The categories will be formulated correctly if they are thought
through correctly. So please tell me in your view does Mr. Nandan
Nilekani and his team have correctly formulated a vision to measure
individual identity? If so, then how? IF not then why is this gross
mis-measure of man is going on? Why this stupid exercise is being
allowed by well meaning people like you?

You know Bipin, please do not get me wrong here, because I really want
these advantages to go to the underprivileged of India but I am not
sure whether people have done fundamental research in really thinking
hard about the idea of identity. Identity appears fuzzy to me.

Warm regards

Taha