This is an archive article published on December 12, 2022
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NC, PDP oppose proposal to create unique IDs for J&K families
While the National Conference said the administration has “messed up its priorities”, the PDP termed it as “another surveillance tactic to tighten the iron grip” on the people of the UT.
State Congress president Vikar Rasool told The Indian Express that he will first “study the proposal” and then comment on it. (Representational/File)
Two mainstream political parties of J&K, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have opposed the proposal to create a unique alpha-numeric code for each family in Union Territory.
While the National Conference said the administration has “messed up its priorities”, the PDP termed it as “another surveillance tactic to tighten the iron grip” on the people of the UT.
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“Creating ‘a unique family ID’ for J&K residents is emblematic of the widening trust deficit, especially post-2019. Kashmiris are viewed with deep suspicion and this is another surveillance tactic to tighten the iron grip on their lives,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said in a tweet.
The plan to create unique IDs was revealed at a conference on e-governance in Jammu where J-K’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar unveiled the ‘Digital J&K Vision Document’.
The Vision document says the unique family IDs will be used to determine the eligibility through automatic selection of the beneficiaries for receiving social benefits.
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The National Conference termed the proposed plan as “unnecessary” and advised the government to focus on deliverances of existing schemes. National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said: “There are already a web of documents through which government agencies determine the eligibility for social welfare benefits and other schemes. It’s utter wastage of resources, time and money. At a time, when the government should be focused on fixing development deficit, administrative inertia and unemployment, it’s focusing on non-issues.”
State Congress president Vikar Rasool told The Indian Express that he will first “study the proposal” and then comment on it.
CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami called the proposed creation of unique IDs as “highly authoritarian”. “This move is bound to create wedge, uncertainty and dissatisfaction,” Tarigami said.
The BJP, however, has welcomed it saying the opposition should appreciate the move and not do politics over it. “This is a move in the right direction. It will help in quick identification of the deserving families,” BJP’s media in-charge Manzoor Ahmad Bhat said.
State Congress president Vikar Rasool told The Indian Express that he will first “study the proposal” and then comment on it. (Representational/File) 
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