At the technical level, the question is whether the technology deployed for identification will return answers that are unambiguous. THE Unique Identification (UID) project, the national project of the Government of India, aims to give a unique 12-digit number – called Aadhaar – to every citizen of the country, a random number that is generated and linked to a person's demographic and biometric information. The key word is “unique”. Launched in...

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set...

Prior sanction for prosecution of public servants like bureaucrats and MPs in a criminal case will not be required if the strong consensus within the parliamentary committee examining the Lokpal bill is reflected in the panel's recommendations.  At present, presiding officers of the two Houses of Parliament are required to give their assent for prosecution of MPs while the government is the relevant authority for civil servants. But the proposed Lokpal's...

Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has proposed social audits for the centre's big-ticket welfare programmes running under different ministries, on the lines of the scrutiny that he recently mandated for the flagship rural jobs scheme. "The concept has the potential to revolutionise the system. If we can have social audits for three-four major social sector schemes, it will change the way the country functions," Ramesh said. If the proposal is...

Information obtained under Right To Information Act is increasingly becoming the basis of public interest petitions seeking judicial redress of grievances. The Supreme Court on Monday disapproved of this modus operandi and said from now, it would not entertain PILs solely based on RTI information. "Petitioners banking on information obtained through RTI Act must approach the concerned ministry, bring the facts to its notice and demand justice. If the ministry does...