Making the Poor Free?

India's Unique Identification Number

S.K. Das

Extremely topical in nature; a must-read in the context of the various debates around the implementation of the Aadhaar/UID project in India and the Supreme Court's order to the government in this regard
Brilliantly applies the philospher Michel Foucault's theory of 'governmentality' in trying to address several questions around the project
Fills in a large gap in any critical analyses of this unique and controversial scheme, particularly in trying to examine its effectiveness for the poor
Provides adequate empirics to support the various arguments

Making the Poor Free?

India's Unique Identification Number

S.K. Das

Description

While handing over the first set of 12-digit unique identification numbers to ten tribal families of Tembhli, a dusty village tucked away in a far corner of Maharashtra, the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, 'UID will help hundreds of people in India, whose pride was hurt for so many years because of the lack of an identity. This will be their source of recognition from now on'. The Aadhaar scheme, since its inception, has been operating without parliamentary approval and, thus, the Supreme Court of India held that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for availing public services in India.

This book, therefore, is an attempt to understand how Aadhaar will make India's poor free. Fifteen chapters describe the evolution of different schemes of the Indian government that have sought to provide identification, enrolment to and functioning of Aadhaar, and the legal framework involved in the process. This book is an in-depth analysis of this unique and controversial programme in India.

Das maintains that while the Aadhaar programme's contribution in the implementation of PDS, MGNREGS, education, and public health can only be modest, it will be in a position to create a platform for greater financial inclusion of the poor.

Making the Poor Free?

India's Unique Identification Number

S.K. Das

List of Tables and Figures
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Governmentality
The Idea
Evolution
The Programme
Enrolment
Authentication
The Organization
Legal Framework
Dataveillance
Aadhaar and the PDS
Aadhaar and the MGNREGS
Aadhaar and Public Health
Aadhaar and Elementary Education
Aadhaar-based Financial Inclusion for the Poor
Aadhaar and India's Poor
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

Making the Poor Free?

India's Unique Identification Number

S.K. Das

Author Information

S.K. Das, Former civil servant. He retired as Member (Finance), Space Commission and Atomic Energy Commission, and Ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India.

S.K. Das Former civil servant. He retired as Member (Finance), Space Commission and Atomic Energy Commission, and Ex-officio Secretary to the Government of India.

Making the Poor Free?

India's Unique Identification Number

S.K. Das

From Our Blog

India's unique identification number: is that a hot number?

Perhaps you are on your way to an enrollment center to be photographed, your irises to be screened, and your fingerprints to be recorded. Perhaps, you are already cursing the guys in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for making you sweat it out in a long line.

Posted on July 27, 2015

Read the blog post