Why I'm ready to homeschool my newborn but not enrol him under Aadhaar
Becoming the father of a baby boy can be one of life's greatest moments. Months of waiting, anxious moments and the tension that I faced when my wife was wheeled into the operation theatre came to an end when the nurse brought me the sweet news.
But the nurse soon threw me into great confusion with her question. "Would you like to enrol him for Aadhaar?"
Despite being innocuous, her question threw me off balance. I mumbled something like "not now" and she walked away. But as I thought over and over again, there it hung like a Damocles' Sword.
Apparently there has been a contest of sorts, to get your child registered right after birth. A Rajasthan girl had an Aadhar card six minutes after she was born, and I'm sure this record will be broken soon.
So our hospital, not apparently content with taking footprints and issuing a birth certificate, which again requires either parents' Aadhaar, was asking why not enrol the baby right there since it would be convenient and he would need it all his life anyway.
As we heaved a sigh of relief at the apex court deferring the March 31 deadline to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and mobile phones till it passes the final verdict on the matter, I realised that the need to enrol my child under this seemingly all-pervasive identity proof has only been postponed and not completely gone.
Maybe, they will ask for it again during his vaccination, who knows? He'd, in a few years start school, and then the school would, presumably, demand an Aadhaar number.
With the case dragging on in the apex court, I am again in a quandary - do I make my child a part of this surveillance state or not? I agree to democracy, secularism and even socialism of the country he was born in, but not surveillance.
I say so because surveillance seems to be the main motive behind the sinister agenda of enforcing Aadhaar on gullible citizens. With an insistence on linking Aadhaar to mobile phones, bank accounts, educational pursuits and travel plan, authorities will put every detail about us in public domain allowing just about anybody to know who you are and what you are up to.
With this comes a very real possibility of rendering your access to the economy and the society invalid if someone in the government decides to "switch-off" your Aadhaar.
If the intention was indeed to weed out impersonation, two very important documents are still outside the ambit of Aadhar - the voter ID card and the passports. No one has told me to link these two with Aadhaar, as yet. That means bogus votes can still be cast and spies and passport-forgers can continue to have a field day.
The government is using every trick in the book to dupe people into making an Aadhaar card with a sense of urgency. It seems like doomsday will come if Aadhaar is not linked to every bank account and mobile number.
This manufactured urgency is worrisome.
Do I want my boy to be shepherded into a maze no one can comprehend, and explain?
While the judgment on Aadhaar is yet to be pronounced by the apex court, and the deadline extended till it happens, utility companies, banks, insurance firms, all seem to be bombarding us with umpteen calls and messages, day and night, to link our Aadhaar. Indian Railways is even offering carrots in the form of a lucky draw if passengers link their ticket to Aadhaar!
Those who compare Aadhaar to a social security number must be living in a fool's paradise. Unlike developed countries, we don't have a provision for any social security allowance in case of a job loss or for claiming healthcare benefits. With data security breach and privacy being serious concerns, I don't see the real fears allayed anytime soon.
What began as an initiative to stop leakages in the public distribution system and MNREGA has now assumed a wider and more powerful role. This system threatens to outcaste us if we do not oblige.
I'm ready to homeschool my son; he may choose a Walden-inspired exile from society if he wants to, he's free to do what he likes. But these things I will leave to him to decide till he's an adult.
Wouldn't it be great if our great welfare state turned slightly magnanimous and waited too till he turns 18?