New Delhi: Days after a Bill was passed by Parliament to link voter id cards with Aadhaar, over 100 retired civil servants wrote an open letter, saying it will undermine the independence and integrity of the Election Commission and cast doubts on the fairness of the entire electoral process.

A letter signed by bureaucrats, including Former Home Secretary GK Pillai, former health secretary K. Sujatha Rao, activists and former IAS Aruna Roy, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, Former OSD on Kashmir in PMO AS Dulat, along with several others raised several concerns over the government plan to link Aadhaar and Voter ID cards.

The letter issued by the Constitutional Conduct Group, a group of retired bureaucrats, in their statement also said they have no affiliation with any political party but believe in impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Constitution.

"The requirement of Aadhaar verification, even if voluntary, from a prospective or registered voter implies the superimposition of a government-issued identity card for identity and address verification that could seriously undermine the independence and integrity of the ECI and cast doubts on the fairness of the entire electoral process," the open letter said.

"The Voter ID is issued on the basis of citizenship while the Aadhaar card is issued on the basis of identity, without proof of citizenship being required. Section 9 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 is clear that Aadhaar may not be used as proof of address, age, gender, citizenship or relationship," the letter said.

They said unlike Aadhaar enrolments, which need only production of existing documents, Voter IDs are based on physical verification and “house visits” by a Block Level Officer.

The letter also raised concerns over the government statement that linking is voluntary, and said the new insertions in The Representation of People Act, in effect, makes it mandatory for a voter to furnish her/his Aadhaar details or risk disenfranchisement.

"It states 'No application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed'. The possible mischief that this wording can give rise to is made amply clear by the subsequent clauses in the Amendment Act which permit the government to prescribe, under its rule-making powers, the process for intimation of Aadhaar numbers by voters. Rules made by the government require no parliamentary approval," the statement said.

"A rule can, therefore, easily be introduced making the furnishing of Aadhaar numbers a prerequisite for voter enrolment. The scope for large-scale deletion of names from the electoral rolls can then become a distinct possibility," the group said.

It also said the experience to date in attempting to clean up data base registries of other government programmes like MGNREGA and PDS, using the Aadhaar database, has been discouraging and linking Aadhaar numbers to Voter IDs may open the floodgates for illegal profiling and targeting of voters, especially in the run-up to elections, when the Model Code of Conduct is not in place.

"There is a distinct possibility that Voter IDs linked to Aadhaar cards and thence to mobile phones could be linked to social media. This social media can be linked to algorithms that are in turn linked to user interests/views. Without a robust Data Protection law and accompanying regulatory mechanisms in place, voter profiling, selective exclusion and targeted campaigns are all possible," the statement said.

The retired bureaucrats also said people were "coerced" into linking their bank accounts with Aadhaar.

"It is unfortunate enough that the Government of India has, without any effective parliamentary oversight or discussion, brought in this crucial legislation that could have a major impact on electoral outcomes. It is even more unfortunate that the ECI has seen fit to promote the move," the letter said.

The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, which provides for linking voter ID cards with Aadhaar, was passed by Parliament in the Winter Session amid protest by opposition parties, with several MPs expressing concerns that it will affect the electoral process.