> access to the entire database is/was available for 500 rupees

Not the biometrics. And the leaked information doesn't allow one to impersonate someone.

Is the alternative of relying on passports/birth certificate better? Are you against any universal id scheme in general?

All the criticism of adhaar seems shallow. If your home address is leaked somehow, say by a customer service representative in a bank, would you say that is the failure of the post office? It is a privacy risk to have one's address out in the public, but is that a reason to oppose post offices, or stop living in houses?