George Orwell's dreams in India

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Indian identity system – Aadhaar

In the biggest democracy in the world Indians are being forced register with the new biometric identification system the Aadhaar and to link their Aadhaar number to; government-issued account numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, insurance policies, mutual funds, pension plans, social welfare benefits such as cooking gas subsidies, LPG connection card, PAN Card, voter ID card, ration card and mobile phone numbers. Many utility providers are now insisting that the consumer must have an Aadhaar number or they will not start/continue to supply, due to actual or implied pressure from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

A private consortium developed the Aadhaar and in 2016 was converted into a statutory body attached to the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and called the (UIDAI). Similar to the American Social Security Number (SSN), the Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number, the difference being the use of biometric data (fingerprints and iris scans) for verifying identity and the breadth of linking.

There is no current law specifically detailing the privacy that Indian citizens may expect and it is this respect, that concerns over the extended use of Aadhaar are being expressed. An example of Aadhaar growth is under an amendment to the Money Laundering Act; bank accounts with more than Rs50,000, (just over £500) in them must be linked to Aadhaar; this following on from the removal from issue of most large denomination Indian banknotes, has particular impact on the poor who historically have scraped a living working for cash payments. This sector has little understanding of Aadhaar and will find their erstwhile employers less inclined to pay anyone who has not registered. Either that or it will drive more of the poor into black-market work units, where they will be even more at risk.

Many other countries have shown interest in the Aadhaar system and even the European Union sent representatives to a Russian held conference where this and other financial issues were discussed.

Orwellian control is alive and well and living in India!

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