The UK government has just admitted that National ID cards were a mistake. Amongst other reasons were the cost, as well as the realization that ID cards are not the solution to perfect security. Alan Johnson, the Home secretary had said: “it had been a mistake to ever allow the perception to grow that they would be a “panacea” to stop terrorism.”
Image Credit: Gareth Harper
National ID cards in the UK reverted – An invasion of privacy and too much hassle
Makes me wonder – if the UK, with a population of only 60 million people has a problem with cost and deployment, how much more will the cost to India be with a population of 1.1 billion (20 times more than the UK)? Most of these people are not easily accessible (unlike the UK where people are much easier to find and communicate with.)
Sounds to me as if the Government of India is in for a huge wakeup call – unless they find a way to make it work where everyone else has failed. I’m not saying it will never happen (never say never!). But when a developed country with a per capita GDP 51 times more than India and a population 20 times less says that it’s too much of a hassle, people should stop and think.
It might turn out that a lot of money will go into starting this project only to fizzle out later – and to add to this, we have the government’s track record in handling large projects. You do the math.
True Bhagwad. In the light of the information we have with us the government should decide before they launch the ID card scheme.