37 - Thu, 22 Jul 2010   

Ram,
It is unfair you making a statement "Ashok Kalbag, Secretary PanIIT Alumni association of India is the voice of UIDAI & Nandan". Just as you have a right to voice your opinion, presumably you will grant me the same, instead of trying to couch it as a "voice" as the "Secretary General of PanIIT Alumni India". I would appreciate you acknowledging my individual opinion as any other member of this group is presumably permitted.

If any meaningful debate is to be had and some fruitful conclusions are to be drawn, it can be feasible only if both sides of the issues are projected and discussed.

Assuming the purpose of this group is to arrive at meaningful alternative to the solutions suggested, let me proceed.

Let us begin by the premise that an identity is required for an individual in present society. 
The entire further discussion would be pointless, if this itself is not in agreement.

Assuming an identity is required, would it be incorrect to assume it should be
1) Unique
2) Not feasible to duplicate
3) feasible to be provided to individuals who are poor and not able to afford or have any other presently known means of establishing identity (ration card, passport, PAN, etc).

3.1 The enrolement process (pp# 14 of Strategy Overview)
The enrolment process for the UID number will begin with a resident submitting his/her information to the enrolling agency with supporting documents. This information will be verified according to the prescribed verification procedure as per the DDSVP Committee Report. To make sure the poor are not excluded, the UIDAI has prescribed guidelines for applicants without documents.

Once the enroller verifies the resident's information, it will submit the application request – either
singly or in batches – through the Registrar to the CIDR. The CIDR will then run a de-duplication
check, comparing the resident's biometric and demographic information to the records in the
database to ensure that the resident is not already enrolled.

Since de-duplication also compares biometric records, it would catch individuals enrolling with a
different set of demographic details. The fact that the UID system is both de-duplicated and
universal will discourage residents from giving incorrect data at the time of enrolment.

The above will hopefully answer the doubt "To challenge the Aadhaar system I can queue up in different states at different times and register myself as Ram Krishnamurthy, Ram Krishnamachari what ever, even as Ram Samuel, Ramatullah. Now  I have created multiple identities for myself that I can use to get rice at Rs 3 a kilo. I am clever enough to act dumb and stupid or even mentally retarded and con the registrars into believing I am poor and do not know my fathers name or mothers name and at my age do not remember my DOB."

Today, as one understands it, the major problem in the leakages in the welfare conduit is the lack of facility to ensure the beneficiary will get the benefits earmarked and disbursed by the government. This does not resolve the problem or debate about NREGA itself being a good or effective scheme. Issues such as, people on the dole are de-motivated to earn a living, would continue, though no one denies a person should go hungry for want of opportunity to earn a living.

One feasibility is for a poor person to open a no frills bank account (which is not feasible today without some documentation) but on the strength of his Aadhar #, would permit transfer of funds to his account directly, without any middle men or agencies which could provide sources of leakages. The methodology for transfer could be debated and alternatives could be worked out, once the beneficiary is clearly identified.

These and similar other issues could be raised and debated, without casting aspersions.

A Q&A session during the PanIIT 2010 event would become meaningful, if properly organised. I would venture a suggestion that Ram & Somnath (with some others, as required) could collate and prepare a list of questions from all and then have them answered in an open session by Nandan. This would permit more ground to be covered and less time wasted with long winded questions or repeats.

We as a group interested in Nation Building, should attempt and come with alternatives which may be debated and refined to help solve the issues facing us as a nation.

Regards
Ashok Kalbag, IITB