Is Narendra Modi Government Misusing Aadhaar?
The Narendra Modi Government is trying to link Aadhaar to almost every government service, without ensuring that it is capable of keeping the data secure or strengthening our privacy laws, the opposition party Congress has said.
“There are media reports which show that Aadhaar data of Indian citizens is with companies like Accenture and Microsoft. A recent report by the Centre for Internet Society said that nearly 13.5 crore Aadhaar records were compromised,” Congress revealed while questioning the Modi Government’s intentions to push Aadhaar.
More than 1 billion people have been issued Aadhaar cards in a totally haphazard manner without ensuring the security of Aadhaar data stored in connected computers.
[ Democracy 2.0: Aadhaar Data May be Used for Voting Frauds in India ]
Aadhaar is a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government of India. This number serves as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India.
While Prime Minister seems to be in a hurry to force everyone to get an Aadhaar number, his Government has failed to provide the necessary safeguards required to ensure that there is no breach in security and that the guilty party will be punished, Congress said.
[ Can Government Check Corruption in Delhi Housing Societies? ]
It adds that the new Aadhaar law also gives sweeping powers under the name of National Security. If we look at the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, it doesn’t use the word national security. This might be because the word “National Security” can be misused because of its very broad nature.
And we have seen how this Government has attacked citizens under the guise of ‘national security.’ Instead we should use the words ‘public emergency’ and ‘public safety’, which are present in existing legislations, Congress suggested.
“Narendra Modi had initially dismissed Aadhaar as ‘political gimmick.’ But, as his party formed the Government, Modi started singing a different tune as he tweeted in favour of Aadhaar,” Congress says.
