J&K: Plan to Issue Unique IDs for Families Draws Flak, Deepens "Suspicion"

Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government’s plan to introduce a “unique ID” for each family has drawn criticism in the region, with political parties terming it as another move towards increasing surveillance against people.

Regional political parties like the National Conference on Monday said that the proposed issuance of the unique IDs to families in Jammu and Kashmir is unnecessary and that the authorities should focus more on the deliverance of existing schemes.

The J&K administration has said that the unique ID for each family to be introduced will have an 8-digit number that will be required for families to receive benefits of government schemes automatically. The administration added that there is no need for the families to enrol separately. “It will be time-saving and transparent,” J&K Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha was quoted as saying in Jammu.

LG Sinha also clarified that the Unique IDs would be implemented with the families' consent.

A party statement quoting the National Conference (NC) chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, however, stated that there is already what he referred to as a “web of government-issued documents" through which government agencies “determine the identification and subsequent eligibility of beneficiaries for receiving various social welfare benefits and schemes.”

“Why is such an exercise needed in the first place? There is already enough data available with the government agencies in terms of Adhaar through which benefits like direct bank transfer (DBT) are reaching end beneficiaries. It's an utter waste of resources, time and money. At a time when the government’s attention should be focused on fixing the development deficit, administrative inertia and unemployment, it's focussing on such non-issues,” Sadiq said.

Sadiq argued that unless the administration does not explain the need for such an exercise when we have other IDs for the same purpose, the move will lead to more “suspicion”.

President of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the decision to allot an ID for each family in the union territory, the former chief minister cautioned, is allegedly another tactic to increase surveillance against people of the region.

“Creating 'a unique family ID’ for J&K residents is emblematic of the widening trust deficit esp post-2019. Kashmiris are viewed with deep suspicion, which is another surveillance tactic to tighten the iron grip on their lives,” she tweeted.

Most political parties, civil society members and rights groups have claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir administration, in the absence of an elected government, has been carrying out arbitrary measures against people and have crushed any room for dissent or opposition. The latest move is also seen as part of the hardened approach of the authorities to further intensify its writ on the ground amid increasing crackdown on people. However, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) members in the region have welcomed the latest decision.

Senior politician and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader MY Tarigami also criticised the plan of creating unique IDs that he said would further deepen the surveillance grid.

“Creating unique IDs for every family in Jammu and Kashmir is not only an infringement of the right to privacy but an attempt to turn the region into a digital panopticon,” he said.