Aadhaar Has No Legislative Foundation

Aadhaar Has No Legislative Foundation is a news report published in Governance Now on 29 April 2010. The article documents civil society opposition to the Unique ID (UID) project, focusing on concerns raised by non-governmental organisations about the project’s establishment through executive order rather than legislative enactment. It features commentary from Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society regarding privacy safeguards, biometric authentication challenges, and the absence of parliamentary oversight.

Article Details
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Context and Background
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Article Details

📰 Published in:: Governance Now
📅 Date:: 29 April 2010
👤 Authors:: Samir Sachdeva
📄 Type:: News Report
📰 Publication Link:: Read Online

Full Text

NGOs raise red banner on UID project

Non-government organizations have raised a red banner against the Unique ID project stating that the project and UID Authority have no legal foundation and have been established by just an executive order.

Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet & Society while speaking to Governance Now said that, "The privacy law has to be first in place then the UID project and not the other way around."

Abraham added that the poor people may not be able to even get the ration in future as their biometrics may not get authenticated because their working conditions will bring dirt on their fingers. Ration shop owners will have additional reasons to refuse ration as the biometrics may not match. The poor laborer will not go to the UID Authority to complain that he was denied ration as there will be no paper trail.

Abraham mentioned that over fifty NGOs have come together to oppose the project. He however clarified that there are some NGOs which want the project to be scrapped while there are some which want UIDAI to address certain issues.

Apart from privacy concerns the NGOs have highlighted issues related to data security, lack of feasibility study, no parliamentary or CAG control as some areas that need to be addressed.

Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of UIDAI had earlier in an exclusive interview to Governance Now mentioned that a team within the authority is already working on a UID Bill and the issue will be addressed soon.

Context and Background

This article appeared approximately nine months after the Unique Identification Authority of India was constituted on 28 January 2009 as an attached office under the Planning Commission through an executive notification. Nandan Nilekani assumed the position of UIDAI chairman on 23 July 2009, having left his role at Infosys to take up the cabinet-ranking appointment.

At the time of publication, the UID project operated without specific parliamentary legislation. The authority functioned under executive authorisation, with a Prime Minister’s Council and Cabinet Committee established in mid-2009 to guide its objectives. The first Aadhaar number would not be issued until September 2010, several months after this report.

Civil society organisations raised multiple concerns during this early phase. The absence of a privacy law meant that collection and use of biometric data lacked statutory protections. Critics questioned whether vulnerable populations, particularly manual labourers whose fingerprints might be degraded through physical work, would face authentication failures and service denial without effective redressal mechanisms. The lack of parliamentary scrutiny and CAG oversight over a project handling sensitive personal data formed another strand of opposition, with over fifty NGOs coordinating their objections.

The National Identification Authority of India Bill was eventually introduced in the Lok Sabha on 3 December 2010 but was withdrawn in March 2016. The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act finally received assent on 26 March 2016, providing legislative backing nearly seven years after the authority’s creation.