The view from "outside"

This is the irony of life. We in India have labelled the Aadhaar project as almost useless truly speaking, it is not the mandatory identity card which it was supposed to be. Even with an Aadhaar card for identity, right from a bank to a library membership, this card alone will just not stand up – it needs to be followed up with either a PAN card or ration card or passport.  Thus we end up asking the question – what’s the point of having an Aadhaar?

But looks like the World Bank has a different point of view. It has put out a report stating that Aadhaar is worthy of replication by other countries as an example of technology leading to economic transformation. In its report, ‘World Development Report 2016’, the World Bank has said that if India can provide unique digital identification to 1 billion people in five years, and thereby reduce corruption by billions of dollars, why can’t other countries replicate its success?

Wow! This is the perception from “outside”. It is considered as a brilliant idea. Its ditto about our yoga or turmeric or any other concept – we need Westerners to tell us that this is a fantastic thing and it is only then that we start looking at it amicably. Maybe this will change the perception of how we look at Aadhaar?

We need the aadhaar of western appreciation to learn to see our own good….