An Aadhaar for Aadhaar?
Tavleen Singh : Dec 02 2012, 01:17 IST
Let me begin by recounting a conversation I overheard on a smoggy, winter evening in Delhi last week. It was at one of those events where everyone believes they are political analysts and obliged to have informed discussions on the subject of the moment. That evening it happened to be the government’s announcement that it would soon be making direct cash transfers to the poor instead of supplying them with subsidised domestic gas and kerosene. This is what I overheard. ‘Well, that settles it. We could now be looking at the possibility of UPA-III. What a clever little scheme they’ve come up with. It should be called cash-for-votes or something like that.’
Not a profound piece of political analysis but definitely on the right track. My friends in the Congress Party (I have a few left) admit privately that they are delighted with the scheme because they believe that underprivileged voters will be totally seduced into voting Congress by money pouring into newly opened bank accounts. And those who believe, mistakenly in my view, that it was MNREGA that won the Sonia-Manmohan government a second term, are now convinced that direct cash transfers will achieve even more spectacular results for them in 2014. Politically, the Prime Minister and his lady boss cannot be faulted for going full steam ahead with this utterly populist scheme but will they be doing irreparable damage to our already damaged economy?
It is my conviction that they will. Let me admit first that I have always
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Aadhaar for Agony
Nachiketas | 03-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Thanks TS for your timely warning & alarm of what might be going wrong - in India's case everything can and will go wrong - in the direct cash transfer (DCT). Given the greedy tricky babudom actively around, take it from me: even the DCT will go direct to their bank accounts and not to the bona fide recipients. In fact Babu dom will thank their stars for not having to find convoluted ways to siphon off. Having worked in emergencies in Africa, Middle East & Thai-Combodia border, cash transfers achieved little in alleviating stark miseries, due to lack & often absence of basic essentials in the market, immediacy of need that money cannot buy, and leakages in the process. This situation led to poor children dying due to hunger & mal-nutrition. Finally, can someone tell me: how come we allow our rulers to make and keep us poor and celebrate poverty 64 yrs after independence. Is it Italian style living.correct point
satyajit | 02-Dec-2012Reply | Forward I am fully agreed with this column.I came across old poor ladies who have been noticed by government to show their Aadhaar card to continue receiving their pensions. Many people who have applied for Aadhaar have not received card due to problem in functioning of either UIDAI or post office. I went to Bhoom in Osmanabad District of Maharashtra where I found that there is no place to enter in a single nationalised bank.ATMS are not functioning in this circumstances how can that particular lady will open a bank account?Mr
C Vasanth | 02-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Tavleen Singh's query, "Could Indians living below the poverty line not end up with an Aadhaar card only to discover that biometrics do not work in villages without electricity?" is ample evidence of how much she understood about Aadhaar. Biometrics is used ONLY to record unique data of a person BEFORE the Aadhaar card is given. There is NO need for a biometric device to use Aadhaar. To make the point clear to someone with the intelligence level of Tavleen Singh, it means there is no need for electricity. She proves what is symptomatic of several high profile Indian journalists - forming opinions without adequate knowledge on the subject and then airing their opinions for public consumption. One of the real problems with Aadhaar is that there are fake identities created using fraudulent methods that need to be addressed.
Mrs
Mukesh Kamath | 03-Dec-2012Reply | Forward Authentication requires biometrics. What is known now is that authentication and hence biometrics are not needed if the benefit is in kind like grains and kerosene or LPG and when there is an electronic record of a customer's requirement logged in through say IVRS(As it is with LPG now).
