ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE TO AADHAAR, SAARC
Anil Padmanabhan
Mint
Last week, two good ideas with potentially enormous consequences for India were facing rejection.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), the long neglected multilateral body for this region, was, just ahead of its 16th summit meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan, being passed off as “dead at birth” and hence only fit to be buried. Similarly, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), or Aadhaar (its brand name), faced its first serious challenge after a group of non-profit organizations came together and warned that they would make out a legal case to spike it as they perceived it to be a threat to individual privacy.
Aadhaar is barely a year old. Its role is to develop and implement the requisite infrastructure that will enable UIDAI to allocate unique identity numbers to Indian residents—it’s very important to understand that it is not just meant for citizens. The idea is that UID can be verified online. Imagine what it will do for the economically disenfranchised —who don’t even possess birth certificates to enrol their children in a school.
RS 97 LAKH GONE, PROJECT STILL NOT ON
Gurdeep Singh Mann, Bassi Pathana
The Tribune
While the Centre has announced to introduce the first National Population Register and provide every Indian with unique identification number, the State of Punjab had spent whopping Rs 97.5 lakh on Multi-Service Card (MSC) Project three years ago that has failed to see light. Besides, 66 government officials from the district were deployed to gather information and project details of the scheme. But, all efforts have gone futile.
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