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Letters

Why not Toe-Print?
For several days I had been getting messages from both the telephone companies with whom I hold connections. They had become more frequent and spoke more clearly of termination of service if I did not have my SIM cards linked to my Aadhaar number. I decided not to bank on the court judgment on privacy or on the well known but universally ignored fact that Aadhaar has been called "voluntary" by the Supreme Court. Where mindless babudom rules, fear brings rewards and valour is suicide. I went to Vodafone first. The simple procedure was gone through fairly quickly and in an air conditioned office. Airtel was second, and for half an hour I had to stand in the heat among the customers milling around a couple of chairs placed outside the office. A customer must be present when the linking is done, because the customer's finger print (Vodafone) or thumb print (Airtel) is needed. I am unable to say if Jio takes a toe print. It does no good to protest that these identifiers were provided when the Aadhaar card was obtained.

I am closer to 70 than to 60 and I suffered little; but another citizen, older or in poor health, may not have taken the ordeal well.
Mukul Dube, Delhi

Frontier
Vol. 50, No.33, Feb 18 - 24, 2018