Modi Took a 180-Degree Turn on Aadhaar, But the ‘I Am Me’ Card’s Flaws Remain https://thewire.in/government/modi-took-a-180-degree-turn-on-aadhaar-but-the-i-am-me-cards-flaws-remain Jahnavi Sen

In 2014, Narendra Modi referred to the Aadhaar programme as a “political gimmick”. Two years later, his government pushed the Aadhaar Act through parliament. In the last 10 years, while carefully maintaining that it is a “voluntary” programme, his government has slowly but surely ensured that Aadhaar is mandatory in all the ways that matter.

Fifteen years after the Aadhaar programme was imagined, the ease with which our personal data is demanded of us – most recently at airports, under another programme that claims to be mandatory but is slipped in as required – has only gone up. Private entities are being allowed to store this data, with little oversight or regulation on what happens to it. “I am me” – a simple and catchy phrase that apparently defined Aadhaar – comes with a voice that offers individual agency; it is I who wishes to identify myself. But the programme and world it has created, over the years, have crept so far into our lives that they no longer needs our permission to exist and announce themselves.