UID in trouble as Home Ministry raises questions

Meetu Jain, CNN-IBN

New Delhi: The UPA government's Unique ID (UID) project has run into trouble after the Home Ministry raised questions about the security of data collected. A Parliamentary Standing Committee has also proposed a new bill in its place.

Sources say that this is a last ditch attempt at saving the UPA's favourite project.
CNN-IBN has accessed the planning commission's draft cabinet note pushing for the project. This despite a thumbs down from Parliament Standing Committee as well as the Home Ministry.
What the planning commission draft suggests
The draft by the planning commission suggest that the rules be amended so that it allows the Registrar General of India to accept UIDAI data.
The Planning Commission has also suggested the census exercise be completed without collecting biometrics.
The Home ministry, however, says the project is halfway through with biometrics already being collected in the coastal areas.
The cost of the project is also in question.
While the National population registrar will require nearly Rs 6650 crore to collect data of 1.12 billion people, the UIDAI will need nearly Rs 18,000 crore for the same exercise.
The home ministry views are already being echoed in Parliament.
MP Maneka Gandhi said, “I went to get my UID but someone else signed on my behalf.”
The cost apart, the very project's future is in jeopardy with the Standing Committee calling for a new bill on UIDAI and that the present project is directionless and implementation faulty.
The Aadhar controversy started off with the home ministry questioning its unsecured data and it got worse with Parliament questioning the very basis of the UID project.
The cabinet note, however, shows the importance of the project. Not just the plan panel, but the Prime Minister's Office also attaches to the project despite mounting objections from not just the executive but the legislature as well.
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