Make new law to secure database of all Indians: Rajya Sabha MP to govt

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) member in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday made a case for a new legislation to ensure safety of the database of all citizens and said the Aadhaar Card should not be made mandatory till that time.

Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, Sukhendu Shekhar Roy claimed that in recent months, over 130 million Aadhaar database has been leaked from government websites.

He said the Wikileaks had indicated that the CIA had allegedly accessed the sensitive bio-metric data from the Aadhaar card database.

"This national ID becomes especially problematic when it is linked to external non-governmental database such as mobile numbers and is used to share personal data with mobile operators," Roy said.

Even the government and intelligence authorities do not necessarily have the capacity to monitor the security practices of third parties, he said.

"In such a situation, we strongly feel against the linking of Aadhaar Card with everything -- bank accounts, mobile numbers, health cards and other cards," the senior TMC member said.

He said when the Supreme Court has ruled that the right to privacy was a fundamental right, "I urge upon the government that a new legislation should be enacted to secure and ensure the safety of the database of the citizens".

Till such time, the Aadhaar Card should not be made mandatory, he added.

In his Zero Hour mention, Ram Kumar Kashyap (INLD) demanded the status of martyrs for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar.

He referred to a report according to which Pakistan has accorded the status of martyr to Bhagat Singh.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu suggested to the Law Minister to discuss the matter with the Minister of Culture and then give some clarification "because a wrong message is going".

"I also felt concerned when I read about it in newspapers. I don't know the full facts," he said.

In his response, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad "all of us" have deep commitment to the supreme sacrifice of Bhagat Singh.

"A particular fact has been brought to our notice...Our government is fully dedicated to give all the respect to the supreme sacrifice of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and others," the minister said.

Raising another issue, K V P Ramachandra Rao (Cong) asked the government to withdraw the decision of complete disinvestment of Dredging Corporation of India (DCI).

The decision of the Cabinet to completely sell the DCI to private operators not only creates a monopoly of the private operators in the dredging sector but also becomes a threat to the nation’s security, he added.

Rewati Raman Singh (SP) highlighted the plight of potato farmers in Uttar Pradesh. Massive production of the kitchen staple has led to steep decline in its prices.

The SP member said potato was sold for 20-25 paise a kilogram.