“There Is an Orchestrated Campaign to Malign Aadhaar”: Nilekani

Nandan Nilekani’s statement comes after a Tribune report that exposed a racket based on an Aadhaar database breach.

Former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Indian Startups‏)

Former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) boss and Aadhaar architect Nandan Nilekani on Wednesday, 10 January, said that there was an “orchestrated campaign” to malign Aadhaar.

In an interview to ET Now, the former Infosys top-man asserted that Aadhaar was here to stay and that people must now look at it constructively, instead of looking at the negative aspects of it.

Nilekani’s statement comes just a week after The Tribune reporter Rachna Khaira revealed a racket via which a journalist was able to gain access to the Aadhaar database of a billion Indians for just Rs 500.

Someone was given access details to the database and it was misused. It was a case of a privilege login being misused.

Nandan Nilekani to ET Now

When asked if the database itself is under threat due to such access, Nilekani said:

<span style="white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There are a billion Indians, may of them illiterate and cannot read their card. They might be calling to get some information. In cases like these, striking a balance between customer services is important.</span>

Nandan Nilekani

He further said that 119 crore Indians possessed an Aadhaar card and them not being provided basic services due to lack of the card was “not an issue” anymore.

Lack of Aadhaar might have been an issue five years ago, when people did not have Aadhaar. It is no longer an issue. It is simply an application design feature.&nbsp; It is up to the application to deliver the service even if the person does not hold Aadhaar. The law is very clear, services should not be denied but provided alternate arrangements.&nbsp;

Nilekani called for people to work with the system rather than take an “antagonistic view”.

He was also “confident” that the Supreme Court would uphold Aadhaar under the recent judgment on fundamental right to privacy. He said that Aadhaar “meets the test of law that it should meet proportional and reasonable requirements under the law”.

(With inputs from ETNow)