open letter to mr. nandan nilekani on the reply to an rti application

7/29/2019 Open letter to Mr. Nandan Nilekani on the reply to an RTI application

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The details cited in this letter are from the reply to a RTI application filed by Rakesh Dubbudu with the UIDAI.

Open letter to Nandan Nilekani on the reply to my RTI application

Dear Mr. Nilekani,

I was hoping that I will not be forced to write this. But the UIDAI under your leadership had other plans.

To cut the story short, I filed a Right to Information (RTI) application in January asking certain

information from UIDAI. To be specific, I sought the following information.

1. How many Members of Parliament (MP) have enrolled for Aadhar till date? Provide the list ofall enrolled MPs.

2. How many members of the Union Cabinet have enrolled for Aadhar till date? Provide the list ofthose enrolled.

3. Did Mr.Nandan Nilekani, Chairman UIDAI enroll for Aadhar?4. Did the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh enroll for Aadhar?5. Did Mrs. Sonia Gandhi (Chairman of UPA) enroll for Aadhar?6. Did Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission enroll for Aadhar?7. Did the staff of UIDAI enroll for Aadhar? Details of the number of people enrolled and number

of people not enrolled.

I had clearly explained the purpose behind seeking this information though I need not tell you the reasons

under Sec 6(2) of the RTI act. I explained the larger public interest behind seeking this information so thatyour dream of Aadhaar for every Indian could be realized. These details if provided could haveinspired millions if not billions of Indians who were critical of the UIDAI after they saw Hens & Goats

being enrolled with unique IDs. I never knew you also had plans of mapping every animal in the country.

Anyway, lets come back to the story. I did tell you that even critics will turn admirers had you disclosed

this information. Your technological prowess would have been proved beyond doubt. But you missed thatgolden opportunity. Anyway, let me tell you why I dont agree with your reply to my RTI application andwhy I think you have outright double standards.

For the first two questions, your reply said

As a body using thousands of crores of public money, you are supposed to follow the constitution. More

specifically article 15 of the constitution which prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race,caste, sex or place of birth. There is nothing unusual about it.

What is unusual though is that you have decided to deny information citing this. Did I ask you to profilepeople or tell me how many people caste wise/creed wise/religion wise enrolled for Aadhaar? I wasseeking information on how many of our esteemed MPs enrolled for Aadhaar. This I told you would

inspire millions of people who are otherwise skeptical about your dream project. And do you know why Isought this information? One of your Cabinet colleagues (colleague since you enjoy the status of aUnion Cabinet Minister) said that people like him do not need Aadhaar and it is only for beneficiariesof the state. Did I hear that properly?? Beneficiaries of the state? Are the cabinet ministers, MPs doingfree service to the country? Dont you know India is probably one of those very few countries where theMPs and Cabinet Ministers decide their salary? Notwithstanding the salary, innumerable perks, the


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minister has the audacity to say that he is not a beneficiary of the state. In fact, I can confidently say that

majority in this country believe that MPs/Ministers dont deserve that kind of salary and m ost of them donot do justice to their job. So does it also not amount to misuse of public money? Dont they need

Aadhaar? Dont you think there should be biometric systems outside the parliament where MPs can

record their attendance? Dont you think theirsalary should be linked to number of days of attendancelike you want to do it for MREGS beneficiaries?

And it was Mr. Jairam Ramesh who made that statement.

Source:http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901

So where is the question of profiling here? Does your technology not even allow you to check whetheror not our law makers enrolled for Aadhaar? Who are you trying to fool Mr. Nilekani?

For the next five questions, your reply said

Frankly speaking, I do not know whether to laugh or cry with this response. Can there be a greater

hypocrite than UIDAI? I will explain what I meant in the following paragraphs.

Can there be a bigger joke than saying that the information sought is personal? Did I ask theiraddress, their 12 digit UID? I just wanted to know if they enrolled for Aadhaar much like many citizenswant to know. How is it personal especially at a time when one of your cabinet colleagues says he doesnot need an Aadhaar? So is Aadhaar only for the poor? The rich and powerful who are equal beneficiariesof the state do not need an Aadhaar? So you never used public money in your work as Chairman as

UIDAI so far? Are you not a beneficiary of the state like any other poor citizen of this country who is abeneficiary of a welfare scheme? Did you conveniently forget that exemptions under the RTI act do notapply when there is a larger public interest? Dontyou think this information has a much larger publicinterest?

This idea is your brainchild. Hence people like me want to know whether you believe in your own idea,whether the PM, Sonia Gandhi and Montek Singh believe in your idea for which thousands of croresof public money has already been spent.

Let me agree for a minute that this information is personal for the sake of argument.Then how did you,the PM and Sonia Gandhi violate the Right to Privacyof that poor women Valiof Rajasthan? Howdid you put her picture on the UIDAI website proudly saying Valienrolled for Aadhaar? So much sothat the picture even clearly shows her address and her 12 digit UID number? I s Valia lesser citizenthan you that your right to privacy is more important than her Right to Privacy? Why this scant
http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901http://www.ndtv.com/article/south/jairam-ramesh-launches-cash-transfer-scheme-says-it-s-no-magic-wand-313901


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regard for the right to privacyof poor citizens like Vali? Is it not a classic case of hypocrisy anddouble standards?

Source: http://uidai.gov.in/image-gallery.html

You proved once again that the law works differently for different people in this country. One forpeople like Vali and another for people of your ilk, who are rich and powerful.

The critics of UID have one more reason to doubt all your claims. The way the enrollment is happeningacross the country is probably a testimony to the power of your idea. I believed you will provide me theinformation to win the confidence of the critics. I am proved wrong and in the process you lost my respect

forever.

Sincere RegardsRakesh Dubbudu

A common citizen of India.
http://uidai.gov.in/image-gallery.htmlhttp://uidai.gov.in/image-gallery.htmlhttp://uidai.gov.in/image-gallery.html

open letter to mr. nandan nilekani on the reply to an rti application

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