Is Aadhaar for greater social good?

Every time a government department asks for Aadhaar linking, people view it with suspicion. The onus is on the government and its agencies to reassure the public that the sole aim of Aadhaar-centric data cleansing is to ensure that the benefits reach the legitimate beneficiaries and there is nothing more to it 

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.