Unique identification project of India (UID project) or Aadhar project of India is one of the most offensive and undesirable project of India. It is not supported by any legal framework and is outside Parliamentary scrutiny. This makes it illegal and unconstitutional.Despite these serious shortcomings and unconstitutional nature, both Aadhar project and unique identification authority of India (UIDAI) managed to survive so long due to the simple reason that our Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Planning Commission have extended their “blind and unthoughtful support” to Aadhar project and UIDAI.
The truth is that Indian government and UIDAI are fooling Indian citizens regarding the nature and purpose of Aadhar project. The real purpose of Aadhar project is to make it the most offensive and unaccountable tool of e-surveillance.
Presently, there is No Parliamentary Oversight of projects like Aadhar/UID, national intelligence grid (Natgrid), criminal tracking network and systems (CCTNS), central monitoring system (CMS), etc. If we add biometric data with other data gather by National Census and National Population Register of India and supplement it with projects like Natgrid, CCTNS, CMS, etc, an endemic e-surveillance model is apparent.
This is the reason why Indian government has deliberately failed to enact suitable procedural, constitutional and civil liberty safeguards to prevent abuses by these projects. Even the basic level privacy law in India is missing.
Unfortunately, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has not been considering civil liberties and procedural safeguards while supervising these controversial projects. Even our Parliament has not been performing its legislative businesses these days.
These projects have seriously disturbed the delicate balance of powers between the Executive, Judiciary and Parliament of India. Experts have doubted that Separation of Power no longer exists in India. With Executive taking control of entire constitutional powers, Parliament and Judiciary are looking helplessly. This is a situation that requires immediate attention lest it is too late to remedy the situation.
