New Delhi: Days after public uproar forcing the government retract the draft National Encryption Policy over clauses related to privacy, the civil aviation ministry is planning to issue directives to airlines to add a column for passengers to quote biometric Aadhar number while booking tickets.
While this requirement would initially be optional, fears are being voiced that the move could subsequently be made mandatory to heighten surveillance by intelligence agencies, and other watchdogs such as the income-tax department, enforcement directorate, directorate of revenue intelligence and the CBI.
Sources in the ministry said that aviation regulator directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) could soon issue instructions to airlines to add the column to the booking window.
“Those who share their Aadhar would be facilitated during security check-in at the airport. There would be separate gate for them. In the long run, the move would help in profiling of air travellers,” he added.
An airline official who attended the meeting called by the ministry and DGCA confirmed the move, but said that a circular in this regard is yet to be formally issued.
At present, air travellers booking their tickets either online or through travel agents give their contact numbers and are required to show valid identity card at the time of entering the airport.
Keen to tighten the screws on black money, the NDA government at the Centre is looking at various ways to monitor the flow of money and their source. It has taken a slew of measures both legislative and executive such as enacting the black money law for declaring cash stashed abroad, and asking government officials to make public their bank deposits and assets.
Aadhar's purpose was to reduce fraud in the public distribution system, but now it's being used as a social security number (SSN) as in the US, where from being used as a record-keeping scheme, it is now a unique identifier for every US citizen.
“By asking air travellers to quote their Aadhar number, the government is, perhaps, trying to keep a tab and check cash transactions, and therefore, keeping black money off the market. The idea of the government could be to make intelligence and tax authorities like income-tax, enforcement directorate, and DRI stronger,” said Kapil Sankhla, a Supreme Court lawyer and managing partner at law firm Sankhla & Associates. He, however, added that a large section of citizens may not like to be watched, and therefore, the government should have more effective and less intrusive security measures starting with more competent and technologically sound police force.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court had on August 11 ruled that Aadhar couldn’t be made mandatory for citizens. It rejected the government's contention that biometric-based Aadhar unique identity number would help it bring transparency in service delivery.
While people may accept quoting Aadhar number as long as it is optional, there is possibility that it could be considered as a tool to intrude into the private affairs of the citizens.
The draft National Encryption policy released by the information technology (IT) and communications ministry last month had invited strong protest from public on social media.
The policy required mobile users to store text messages using encrypted data for 90 days and make it available to security agencies when asked for it.
Facing public ire from across the civil society, information and technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stepped back and removed the clause from the policy, which had been put up for public consultation.
