PARAGRAPH, WORDS AND MEANINGS

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TOPIC OF THE DAY – “Aadhaar survives”

The Supreme Court finds a pragmatic middle path between the Aadhaar scheme’s excesses and its benefits to the marginalised

The Aadhaar project has survived a fierce legal challenge. Ever since a nine-judge Bench ruledunanimously last year that privacy is a fundamental right, opinion began to gain ground that the unique identification programme was vulnerable in the face of judicial scrutiny. It was projected by sceptics,detractors and activists as an intrusion on citizens’ privacy, a byword for a purported surveillance system, a grand project to harvest personal data for commercial exploitation by private parties and profiling by the state. But the government has staved off the challenge by successfully arguing that it is essentially a transformative scheme primarily aimed at reaching benefits and subsidies to the poor and the marginalised. Four of the five judges on a Constitution Bench ruled that the law enabling the implementation of the programme does not violate the right to privacy of citizens; instead, the project empowers marginalised sections and procures dignity for them along with services, benefits and subsidies by leveraging the power of technology.

In upholding the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and clarifying areas in which it cannot be made mandatory, the Supreme Court has restored the original intent of the programme: to plug leakages in subsidy schemes and to have better targeting of welfare benefits. Over the years, Aadhaar came to mean much more than this in the lives of ordinary people, acquiring the shape of a basic identity document that was required to access more and more services, such as birth and death certificates, SIM cards, school admissions, property registrations and vehicle purchases. A unique identity number, that could be availed on a voluntary basis and was conceived to eliminate the rampant fraud in the distribution of benefits, had threatened to morph — with the Centre’s tacit acceptance — into something that was mandatory for various aspects of life. The judgment narrows the scope of Aadhaar but provides a framework within which it can work. The majority opinion has sought to limit the import of the scheme to aspects directly related to welfare benefits,subsidies and money spent from the Consolidated Fund of India. Thus, controversial circulars and rules making it mandatory to link mobile phone numbers and bank accounts to Aadhaar numbers have been declared unconstitutional. Section 57 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery Of Financial And Other Subsidies, Benefits And Services) Act, 2016, has been struck down to the extent that it authorised body corporates and individuals to use the Aadhaar number to establish someone’s identity. Schools have been barred from making the submission of the Aadhaar number mandatory to enrol children. A few other provisions have been read down or clarified.

 

WORDS AND MEANINGS  –

 

1) fierce

Meaning : having or displaying a violent or ferocious aggressiveness.

Synonyms : savage

Antonyms : calm

Example : “fierce fighting continued throughout the day”

2) unanimously

Meaning : without opposition; with the agreement of all people involved.

Synonyms : concurrently , together

Antonyms : contrastingly

Example : “a committee of MPs has unanimously agreed to back his bill”

3) scrutiny

Meaning : critical observation or examination.

Synonyms : examination , investigation

Antonyms : glance

Example : “every aspect of local government was placed under scrutiny

4) sceptics

Meaning : a person inclined to question or doubt accepted opinions.

Synonyms : agnostics

Example : Hume is the most illustrious and indeed the typical sceptic of modern times.

5) detractors

Meaning : a person who disparages someone or something.

Synonyms : dragons , furies

Antonyms : promoters

Example : “the island, say its detractors, has been devoured by development”

6) intrusion

Meaning : the action of intruding.

Synonyms : interference , trespass

Antonyms : consideration

Example : “he was furious about this intrusion into his private life”

7) purported

Meaning : appear to be or do something, especially falsely.

Synonyms : supposed

Example : “she is not the person she purports to be”

8) staved

Meaning : break something by forcing it inwards or piercing it roughly.

Synonyms : poled

Example : “the door was staved in”

9) procures

Meaning : obtain (something), especially with care or effort.

Synonyms : acquires , obtains

Antonyms : fails

Example : “food procured for the rebels”

10) leveraging

Meaning : use borrowed capital for (an investment), expecting the profits made to be greater than the interest payable.

Synonyms : leverage

Example : “a leveraged takeover bid”

11) subsidies

Meaning : a sum of money granted by the state or a public body to help an industry or business keep the price of a commodity or service low.

Synonyms : allowances

Example : “a farm subsidy”