Grappling with Aadhaar: Biometrics, Social Identity and the Indian State

Abstract

The Aadhaar program has been among the most defining socio-political projects of the Indian state over the last decade. Translating to “platform” or “foundation” in several Indian languages, this colossal identification scheme has been extended thus far to almost 1.25 billion Indian residents. As noted by Rao and Nair (2019), the word Aadhaar has become a metonymy that transcends its literal meaning, automatically linking it to the national biometric identification project that carries its na...