Why is the opposition to the UID scheme growing?
The unique identity (UID) numbers being issued with much fanfare have no legal sanctity. This may surprise many who casually know about the UID scheme and believe it represents a progressive and transparent new India.
The problem is, the Bill which proposes setting up an Authority mandated to issue such numbers was introduced in Parliament only in December 2010. This is yet to even face the routine Standing Committee scrutiny.
In the last three months, there has been opposition to the UID scheme. Leading the resistance are eminent academics and social activists, Jean Dreze and Aruna Roy. Both are members of the National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi.
What’s the Fuss About?
One of the main criticisms is the “unwarranted” hurry with which it has been put in motion.
“I don’t know how it has been established that UID is inevitable. Where was the debate regarding this?” asks Gopal Krishna, member of the Citizens Forum of Civil Liberties.
He points out that there has been no feasibility report or cost benefit analysis of the project in the public domain. Krishna’s main concern is the invasion of an individual’s privacy.
“The UID scheme will soon prove to be the key that leads to unifying many different databases and give the government agencies overwhelming powers of surveillance,” he says. Krishna asserts that the UID number will in time become the single common factor between various databases of a single person, allowing someone with malicious intent to compile a unified list.
The assertion that UID is “voluntary” is misleading, since in time it will become necessary to have a UID number if one wants to avail any service. Observers fear that such easy access with the government could lead to dangerous consequences. “In a situation like the Gujarat riots, profiling, and targeting a minority community could become extremely easy,” claims A.P. Shah, former chief justice of Madras and Delhi High Courts.
(This story appears in the 14 January, 2011 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)