'Govt is not legally mandated to take finger print of its citizens'
Source: Hueiyen News Service / Newmai News Network

Imphal, September 28 2011: Expressing skepticism of the Central government's attempt at streamlining delivery of services through Unique Identity Scheme (UID), Dr.Usha Ramanathan said the government is not legally mandated to take finger prints of its citizens.

"UID Authority does not have legal authority and therefore does not have the legal rights to take finger prints of the citizens.

The process of collecting finger prints are not mandated by the Parliament thorough any law or act," contended anti-UID campaigner Dr.Usha Ramanathan in a press meet today at Manipur Press Club.

Dr.Ramanathan spoke yesterday on the possible adverse effect of UID Scheme in a lecture organized by Centre for Manipur Studies at Manipur University campus in Imphal.

She expressed doubt that the Central government has the required budget for UID and questioned if the process will serve any purpose for the poor in whose interest it is purportedly conceptualized.

"On whose interest and for whom UID Authority was set up?" she asked.

The process of UID scheme initially began with the express intention of providing national ID card voluntarily to those who do not have one.

But now it has become compulsory, she said.

She noted that the official who collect UID through finger printing and retina scanning do not provide to the citizen the purpose for its use.

If at all reasons are cited it is in the nature of false propaganda to persuade the people to voluntarily comply.

The people are told by the officials that if they do not come forward and get their fingers prints scanned, they will forfeit the right to vote and PDS items, she said.

Though a committee was formed to execute the UID scheme, it was not done legally; she said and expressed skepticism about the security of the data collected through the process.

"The UID scheme will compromise our rights to privacy with the added risk of uncertainty, unreliability and the effectiveness of it all", she said.

Dr.Ramanathan has been publicizing the possible threat to democratic principles and personal liberty given the increasing participation of private players in public service delivery through the PPP model.

It could be noted here that the process of biometric date collection which includes finger print and retina scanning that started in Manipur in February 2011 is still going on in the hill districts.

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