Critiques of Aadhaar: what critics see and oversee.

Since its inception, the Aadhaar project has been applauded and criticized for all its real and perceived claims and counter-claims. In the last 8-12 years, political and economic critiques from the Left, Right, centrist ideologies have tried to shape popular (and not-so-popular) opinions about Aadhaar.

In a conversation with Reetika Khera on Wednesday, 3 April at HasGeek House, we will:

1. Examine the discourse around Aadhaar that the various critques have built in the last five years.
2. What do these critiques see and oversee -- and therefore, what are the questions that we, as concerned individuals, need to ask about Aadhaar? How do we equip ourselves -- and therefore what do we need to see -- to ask the right questions?
3. What role do communities have to play in reviewing and critiquing large-scale infrastructure projects such as Aadhaar, which impact several lives and groups of citizens? What are the avenues of participation for communities, especially when decisions are either made via opaque processes, or behind 13 feet walls?

Zainab Bawa, CEO and co-founder of HasGeek, will conduct this discussion with Reetika Khera. Zainab currently leads the peer review process in HasGeek, where speakers at various conferences are reviewed by their peers from technology and practice domains (design, data science, front-end engineering, media, etc).
In her previous life (before she founded HasGeek), Zainab was an ethnographer who researched and wrote about life in Indian cities, and the conflicts between governments and citizenry over political and social claims (including property).

About Reetika Khera: Reetika Khera is Associate Professor at IIM-A. She has authored and published Dissent on Aadhaar: Big Data Meets Big Brother, and has been one of the most vocal critics of Aadhaar. Read more about Reetika’s publications and work here: https://www.iima.ac.in/web/faculty/faculty-profiles/reetika-khera

Date: Wednesday, 3 April
Time: 5 PM to 7 PM
Venue: HasGeek House
RSVP here.

We’d like to thank the Alternative Law Forum and Vinay Sreenivasa for helping put together this event.