The passage of time does not seem to have removed the concern of people about the safety of Aadhaar data. It was more than six-seven years ago that cooking gas consumers in Tamil Nadu began seeding their Aadhaar and bank account details with their LPG consumer numbers for receiving the subsidy and the ration cardholders integrated the Aadhaar data of all their family members with the public distribution system. Yet, people continue to view with suspicion any new directive from the government or its agencies for their Aadhaar numbers.
Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has joined the list of government entities seeking the Aadhaar details of citizens. The power utility is updating its database by linking the Aadhaar to the electricity service connections. It has set a December 31 deadline for completing the task. About 10 days ago, the office of the Chennai Collector made it clear that all differently abled beneficiaries who get a monthly maintenance allowance of ₹2,000 should submit their Aadhaar details before December 23.
In the last six months, a host of government departments issued gazette notifications calling upon the beneficiaries of various schemes to submit Aadhaar details. The Finance Department was the latest to come out with an order last month targeting government employees and pensioners. This has only formalised the arrangement that had been in place, clarifies a senior official of the department.
Though several departments and agencies have been obtaining the Aadhaar data, Tangedco’s directive has caused disquiet. Even a month after the drive began, a section of consumers in Madurai is seeking clarity. K.P. Samuel, a retired teacher at K.K. Nagar in Madurai, points out that linking Aadhaar is mandatory only for domestic service connection numbers and not for commercial establishments. “Maybe, collecting the data might help the government withdraw the 100 free units of power given to households. One is forced to think on these lines especially when Tangedco has been making losses,” he contends.
N. Jamaludeen, a consumer activist in Tiruchi, says, “I do not understand the rationale behind the exercise as the power utility computerised its database of all categories of consumers about 10 years ago. When it can get data in a jiffy, why trouble the consumers.”
T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist, points out that the power utility is yet to come out with a “give-up” option for domestic consumers. This leaves the consumers with no other option than sharing the Aadhaar details. According to T. Sivaraman, a senior citizen of Cuddalore, “People in several villages still do not have Aadhaar. Making it mandatory to get subsidies will cause chaos among such people.” V. Boominathan, an employee of a private company in Erode, has a different take. “Initially, the government asked us to seed Aadhaar numbers with ration cards and now with electricity service connection numbers. Soon, it may say one family is receiving several benefits and will stop them.”
As of now, Aadhaar seeding has not been done for property tax assessees. The Coimbatore municipal corporation issued a circular a couple of days ago making it mandatory to link ration card numbers with property tax numbers, prompting people to wonder whether it was a precursor to Aadhaar seeding.
However, there are other sections that have no problem in seeding Aadhaar with the electricity service connection numbers. K.V. Elankeeran, president of the Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Federation, supports the Aadhaar-centric delivery of benefits and subsidies. But, he says, the authorities should ensure that there is no data breach. Notwithstanding such concerns, there are some people in Tiruchi who think that linking of Aadhaar to government subsidies will ensure that only genuine candidates get the benefits.
Explaining the rationale, a senior official says the introduction of free 100 units of power bi-monthly in May 2016 caused a proliferation of domestic connections. At one stage, domestic meters outnumbered the ration cards. Thus, the average revenue per service connection number dropped by more than 50%, according to one estimate.
Electricity Minister V. Senthilbalaji has been at pains to allay the fears that those having multiple domestic connections would lose free 100 units. “There is no change in the policy on free and subsidised power supply” has been his refrain since Tangedco launched the drive. While launching special camps late last month, he said the power utility did not have data on the number of domestic consumers having multiple service connections.
Asked why the ruling DMK, which had opposed the use of Aadhaar for LPG subsidy while being in the Opposition, had shifted its stand, T.K.S. Elangovan, chief of the party’s public relations wing and former MP, replies that it is “out of compulsion”. He adds that the aim is to weed out ineligible beneficiaries.
Pointing out that public policies rest on data, another government official says there is a view within the bureaucracy that Tamil Nadu has a long way to go in data-centric governance and targeted delivery of subsidies. This is why many departments have started taking the Aadhaar route for authentication of beneficiaries.
The officials assert that there are enough safety protocols and the fears about data breach are misplaced. When any department goes in for Aadhaar authentication, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) ensures that access to data is confined to one purpose. “If a department wants to know whether a given set of Aadhaar numbers is valid, the UIDAI will enable it to have that much information. No other information can be obtained,” explains one of the officials.
Regardless of the advantages that the system of Aadhaar authentication offers, there are complaints of government agencies asking for Aadhaar numbers as a matter of routine and other issues concerning the process. “I can understand the purpose of asking for Aadhaar details when the government gives me a subsidy. But what is the logic behind asking for these details while one applies for a change in the tariff of low-tension electricity service connections when it does not involve subsidy,” asks K. Kathirmathiyon, a Coimbatore-based consumer activist, referring to a circular that the power utility issued in May.
Mr. Sadagopan points to the hardship caused to the elderly during biometric authentication at fair price shops every month. In the whole discourse on Aadhaar authentication, the plight of persons with disabilities seems to have been overlooked. Deepak Nathan, State president of the December 3 Movement, says getting an Aadhaar number remains an uphill task for such persons since many e-seva centres are not barrier-free and the process itself is cumbersome. Making it mandatory for every government scheme puts a lot of pressure on the caregivers and the parents.
The government did not hold any meeting with stakeholders before taking a decision on the ongoing exercise. As the persons with disabilities have linked their Unique Disability IDs with their Aadhaar numbers, the government could use that data, instead of asking for fresh seeding, he suggests.
In the end, the onus is on the government and its agencies to reassure people that the sole objective of the Aadhaar-centric data cleansing is to ensure that the benefits reach the legitimate persons and that there is nothing more to it.
(With inputs from Deepa H. Ramakrishnan in Chennai; S. Prasad in Cuddalore; M. Sabari in Salem; S.P. Saravanan in Erode; C. Jaishankar and Ancy Donal Madonna in Tiruchi; and R. Jayashree in Madurai.)
