There is little doubt that Mr. Modi’s government and the party is very good in executing projects. They are good at building roads, power-plants, organizing an expo and so on. But the same time it is crystal clear that BJP is also incompetent at identifying secondary effects and taking precautionary measures. The classic example is how BJP has mindlessly pushed Congress agenda in HRD ministry. BJP’s manifesto now includes extending RTE to higher secondary education.

AADHAAR is another area where this is clearly seen. The hasty rollout and subsequent gaffes, denials and overall scene of confusion is a clear indication that government had no clue what to expect from this identification project.

AADHAAR is a project by babus for babus

I recently met a government official in charge of developing an Android app for a government body. I realized that several apps already exist for that purpose and doing that job really well. Why don’t you simply recommend those apps? What is the point of reinventing the wheel? I asked. He had a very convincing answer.

There is a 35 lakh rupees budget allocated to this app. Most of it will be spent on conducting meetings in lavish resorts, press releases, inauguration and so on. A small percentage will actually be given to a developer. I just need my share of the pie here. Though the app is pointless these fridge benefits matter to me. Some politician is going to call himself a visionary for this app. This is a good opportunity.

AADHAAR is not very different from the above example. People behind AADHAAR have no skin in the game for improving governance. They have a budget that they want to spend on making their own lives simpler while pretending to care for ordinary people.

The babus behind AADHAAR do not care about your privacy. On the contrary, they might detest the whole idea that citizens be allowed to do anything without government permission and god forbid without the government being able to track it. Expecting these people to ensure that AADHAAR does not violate privacy is going be a big disappointment.

AADHAAR is a project designed by people who simply wanted to use the budget and then give something that helps politicians tom-tom the fact they have completed another project. Which has happened now and we have to face the consequences.

Lack of related regulations

Government and private entities alike everyone has been pushing AADHAAR. From schools to landlords and from banks to hospitals everyone now needs AADHAAR. Each of these entities also collects various other information too.

There is no regulation as to how these entities are supposed to use all that information, how it will be stored and how these organizations and ensuring its security. If the information is hacked who goes to jail? The correct answer today is No One.

Ideally, AADHAAR should have come up with a law that would make it clear who can demand AADHAAR under what circumstances and would impose a cost on the entity demanding it (like a credit check in the USA). Also in case of a leak of hack would force them to pay damages (which is difficult given the current state of Indian judiciary).

The current push for AADHAAR is like a land grab mode. Everyone is using AADHAAR to build its internal databases. Sooner or later a market will develop with all these organizations will share those databases with each other for the right price. That would enable anyone sees the entire life of an Individual.

Pushed by Techies with no skin in the game 

Outsourcing projects in Indian IT industry are executed with well-defined contracts and cutting corners, under delivering etc. invariably means the client will refuse to pay. That hurts the CEO’s pay package and stock value too.

That is not the case with AADHAAR. Nandan Nilekani might be a good person but he does not pay the cost of his decisions in any way. Secondly, he has no control over how the Babus will use the system he created. His life will not be affected by it.

Someone recently showed that AADHAAR database can be purchased for mere $10 on the internet and the first response by the babus was to file an FIR against the journalist who broke the story. No government official actually in-charge of the data was investigated or fired.

What needs to change 

AADHAAR must be paused and used only for citizens to government transactions. It should not even be optional elsewhere but explicitly banned.

Any organization that might see a need to obtain AADHAAR must undergo regulatory certification, should buy liability insurance and must be subjected to scrutiny from the government. (In short make, it an unpleasant thing).

Sadly, the citizen themselves do not have a strong sense of liberty and privacy. Most Indians think it is their duty to provide everything to the government when asked. The price of that serfdom will have to be paid by our children as it will erode their freedom significantly.