NIR-AADHAR AADHAR

The Government of India is pushing to have AADHAR linked to every aspect of our life.  There is lot of debate on its intentions and purposes.  I do not want to get into the Judgement passed by the 9-Judge bench of the Supreme Court or consider the merits of the Privacy issue that is pending before the Supreme Court.  I want to think broadly with an open mind to see how much of these make sense.

 

To start with, when a Child is Born, the child does not require a AADHAR Card but from then on till Death one requires an AADHAR Card.   Even to get the Birth Certificate, it will be soon before the Parents are asked to submit their AADHAR Card, if not already.  The Colleges have started asking for AADHAR Card of the Student (I had to submit my Son’s AADHAR Copy at SASTRA) and it would not be long before the Schools also begin to ask for it.  From PDS to IT Returns and from Mobile Connections to Mutual Funds, AADHAR is made mandatory everywhere.  Some call it surveillance policy of the Government and some call it as a direct infringement of our privacy.  Is the Government stretching it too far? What do they really achieve out of this exercise?  Is there is some rationale to it?

 

AADHAR was originally carried out to distribute the subsidies.  It seems that the Government is happy with the result and wants to extend the use of AADHAR.  Let us have a closure look at the possible intent, without taking any sides.

 

Possible Intentions/Arguments of the Government

1. AADHAR is the ONLY PROOF OF ADDRESS with Biometric Data.
2. Linking AADHAR Card of the Parents of the new-born child in mandatory to issue the Birth Certificate so we have the correct credentials and address of the Child.  This also helps in building the correct Data of Population.
3. Linking AADHAR to Ration Card is necessary to make sure the right person gets the subsidised Food Supply.  The linking helps eliminate possible duplicate and Multiple Ration Cards.
4. Linking AADHAR to PAN is necessary as AADHAR is the authenticated Proof of Address.  Linking AADHAR to PAN will help eliminate duplicate and multiple PAN held by some fraudsters.
5. Linking AADHAR to Bank Account is necessary as AADHAR is the authenticated Proof of Address.  With PAN Card already linked to most of the BANK Accounts, inclusion of AADHAR establishes the real Account Holder.  This helps in monitoring the Flow of Funds from each Account thereby making it easier for Banks and Authorities to look for suspicious transactions like Money Laundering and Terror Funding.  The linking also helps Taxmen look for undisclosed amounts by Citizens held in Bank Accounts.
6. Linking AADHAR to Mutual Funds is necessary to monitor the source of such investments and whether incomes derived from such investments are disclosed in the Tax returns.
7. Asking for the AADHAR copy of the deceased helps in proper recording of the Death and updating the Population data accordingly. 
8. AADHAR details and Biometric data need to be provided to the Telecom companies to know exactly who has purchased a SIM Card.  This will help in monitoring the lavish use of multiple SIM by terror groups.

Since I cannot think of a valid reason as to why AADHAR is required by the educational institutions, I would like to assume that such request is made to know the exact address of the Student.  Most other Government Organizations might be asking for submission of AADHAR card as proof of address.

 

Given the above assumptions, based on basic common sense, let me try to counter it with some real facts.  Let us all remember for a second how we first got the AADHAR card.  We all stood in the queue with copy of our Ration Card or Passport and took a photograph and gave our Biometric Data to the officer.  Our Personal Data was typed and we were asked to verify if they are correct.  That is the only thing that we had to do.  So, it was more of a self-disclosure of our details.  The Ration Card that we carried with us had only our First Names and Age.  We provided the AADHAR Representatives our Full Name, Exact Address, Date of Birth, etc. 

 

If intentions are misplaced and if someone had another Ration Card, getting another AADHAR Card was easy, knowing very well it would take several years before they start matching for duplicate finger prints and start questioning.  Let us leave it at that for now.  Often, the Ration Card had the old door numbers and whatever was mentioned as the correct address by the Citizen was taken at face value and recorded in the AADHAR system.  There is no personal verification as it is done while issuing Passports.  With this being the case, how can AADHAR be the only Proof of Address.  AADHAR can be one of the many documents that can be used as Proof of Address but not the Only one.

 

There are lot of people in the remote areas especially in the Tribal and some North-east states.  AADHAR is not distributed in most of these areas.  By making it mandatory the Government is denying those people of their fundamental rights.

 

If you notice all your ID Cards that you might have, they are all certified and signed by some Authority.  But the AADHAR Card has no certifying authority.  There is no signature of any issuing authority, no hologram to identify as Original.  A Colour Print-out and Lamination is what is required.  Making it easier for the Fraudsters to use it to their advantage anywhere and everywhere as the recipient cannot verify the correctness of the AADHAR that easily.  If someone does photo-shopping of the AADHAR Card and submit anywhere, the recipient hardly verifies its correctness.

 

The latest incident was reported in today’s (23^rd October 2017) Economic Times where a Banker’s AADHAR Card and IT Returns were forged and Auto and Personal Loans were taken by Fraudsters.  Another incident was reported few hours back in Financial Express (Click to Read) where a citizen’s salary account was looted by a Fraudster after linking his AADHAR Card to his ICICI Bank Salary Account. 

 

Regarding the need for Banks to Link our AADHAR with our Bank Accounts, what is the need when we already have the PAN linked to our Accounts and our AADHAR linked to our PAN.  Does this not lead to redundancy?  When my account is already linked to my PAN it is easy to get my AADHAR from my PAN.

 

If AADHAR must be considered as the ONLY authenticated Proof of Address, what about the other IDs that we have, including our Passport which was issued after verification of the Local Police.  Are these not valid anymore?

 

I personally feel that it is better for the Government to rectify their problems in PAN and use it for Tax purposes and use AADHAR only for distribution of Subsidies.  Their problems in PAN is forcing them to link AADHAR with Bank Accounts. If AADHAR has to be treated as the only authenticated Proof of Address, more needs to be done to verify its accuracy.  There are several security and privacy issues involved in using AADHAR.  Asking people to get AADHAR for a specific purpose (Distribution of Subsidies) and to use it across the board is a breach of Trust.  It would be wise on the Government to use it only for specific schemes and avoid creating unnecessary inconvenience to the Public.  The only immediate beneficiary will be the Photocopy shop owner, next door.

 

Let us wait and see what judgement the Supreme Court gives on this issue.  Till then I am perplexed as you are.

Wah Taj to Bye Taj

Taj Mahal, one of the Seven Wonders of the World did not find place in the recently released booklet of the UP Tourism Department’s budget allocation.

In June, the Chief Minister of UP, Sri Yogi Adityanath had said the Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan does not reflect Indian culture.

The people of this country have learnt to live with the History.  We have studied the Good, the Bad and the Ugly part of Indian History.  We are more engulfed with the present issues and live always with a hope of a better future.  Art is pure and a high majority of the Indians have accepted and appreciated this.  If one does not like the symbol of love built by Shah Jahan for whatever reasons, including religious beliefs, all one needs to do is just stay away and do not make a visit. 

On one hand the Central Government is trying to build an operational airport at Agra and on the other hand the State Government is trying to downplay the Popular Tourist attraction.  What should we make out of such acts?

Only the Investment community abroad know India as an Emerging Market.  For the rest of the world India means Taj Mahal, Yoga, Snake Charmers, Saints and Poverty.

The Greatest Wonder of the World is the Unity in Diversity found in India.  But still we can showcase Taj Mahal in a better way by giving its due, at least from an artistic point of view.