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Raju Rajagopal
A 1968 engineering graduate of IIT-M, Raju Rajagopal spent much of his corporate career in the United States, retiring as the COO of a healthcare consulting company. Since 2000, he has fully devoted his time to working with NGOs in India on poverty alleviation programmes, disaster management, and communal harmony initiatives. He joined the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) team in 2009 as a volunteer at the invitation of the Chairman and led its early outreach initiatives with civil society groups. He currently lives in Berkeley, California.
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Aadhaar Bill: UID without excessively compromising privacy?
Can something like UID be created without compromising privacy beyond acceptable limits? If so, how should the Aadhaar Bill have been written? What are its specific and avoidable weaknesses?
Aadhaar Bill: Move towards a surveillance State?
Most advanced economies have had some version of UID for a long time, example, the Social Security number in the US, the Social Insurance Number in Canada, etc. This is recorded not only in interactions with the State (example, tax filing) but also in many kinds of non-governmental transactions (example, college admissions or property purchase). Yet, it is arguable that these nations have not become police States, occasional abuse notwithstanding. If privacy concerns in India are justified, is it a reflection of the trust deficit in government specific to India (or poorer countries more generally)? Or do schemes like UID inevitably lead to a surveillance State anywhere in the world?
Aadhaar Bill and government benefits: Risk of increasing exclusion?
Supporters of Aadhaar express the hope that will reduce inclusion errors and corruption by eliminating ghost beneficiaries, say in schemes like MNREGA. Are there substantial benefits to be reaped on this account? Tweet using: #AadhaarBill
Aadhaar Bill and government benefits: Better targeting and reduced corruption?
Supporters of Aadhaar express the hope that will reduce inclusion errors and corruption by eliminating ghost beneficiaries, say in schemes like MNREGA. Are there substantial benefits to be reaped on this account?
Aadhaar Bill: Incremental information-gathering powers for government?
The government already has the means to collect a lot of information on citizens (example, phone conversations and logs, credit card transactions, income tax records, bank account details, etc.). Conversely, there are many activities which happen under the radar (example, cash transactions, informal sector employment, etc.). What kind of information-gathering powers will Aadhaar confer on the State over and above what it already has?