Another ‘surveillance tool’ : Mehbooba Mufti
“Unproductive use of resources” ; NC
BJP welcomes the move
Mir Gowhar
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President Syed Mohammad Altaf Bhukari on Monday reacted to the J&K administration’s move by planning to create an authentic database of all families, saying we have adhaar cards and other identification-related documents, so it won’t affect us.
Addressing a massive gathering of people in Hajjin, a once-hotbed of militant activity, as per The Web Story Apni Party President said until his party is here, the people of this state should not worry. He said we won’t let anyone snatch anything from us.
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bhukari said Jammu and Kashmir is not a laboratory to test different things; he said other political parties see it as such and will make this issue and create a situation of fear out of it, but people should not be aware of it.
Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti took to her micro blogging Twitter handle said “Creating ‘a unique family ID’ for J&K residents is emblematic of the widening trust deficit esp post 2019,”
“Kashmiris are viewed with deep suspicion & this is another surveillance tactic to tighten the iron grip on their lives,” she added.
National Conference provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta termed the exercise “unproductive use of resources”.
“They already have a database of every individual because of Aadhaar. So, creating another database is not fruitful… the administration is keeping the staff busy with data collection while people are left devoid of basic facilities,” he said.
However, the BJP welcomed the move and said the people who have to stand in queues to get various benefits and certificates will benefit once a verified database is prepared.
Pertinently, The Jammu and Kashmir administration is planning to create an authentic database of all families in the Union territory with each of them having a unique alpha-numeric code — the objective being easy selection of eligible beneficiaries of various social welfare schemes.
The proposed move to allot “Family ID” has been welcomed by the BJP but panned by other parties which raised concerns over personal data safety.
