AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8836 - GDP growth to exceed 7.5%, taxes to miss target: FinMin

In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.

On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.

In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.

In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.

In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.

"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi

Ram Krishnaswamy

Sydney, Australia.

Aadhaar

The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018

When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi

“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi

“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.

Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.

Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha

“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh

But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP

“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.

August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"

“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden

In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.

Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.

Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.

UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy

1) Denial

2) Issue fiats and point finger

3) Shoot messenger

4) Bury head in sand.

God Save India

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

8836 - GDP growth to exceed 7.5%, taxes to miss target: FinMin

Posted at: Oct 6 2015 12:38AM

GDP growth to exceed 7.5%, taxes to miss target: FinMin

India emerges as fastest-growing economy

As per Finance Ministry, tax collection will undershoot the target by Rs 50,000 crore though the fiscal deficit target is on track
The total tax revenue is likely to be around Rs 14 lakh crore in the current fiscal, as against the budgetestimate of Rs 14.5 lakh crore
Despite global slowdown and declining export demand, India has emerged as the fastest-growing major economy in the world

Sanjeev Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

Contending that the Indian economy is now better placed to handle external shocks, the Finance Ministry today said tax collection will undershoot the target by Rs 50,000 crore though the fiscal deficit target is on track with the next generation public distribution system (PDS) reforms to be implemented through the Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile (JAM) trinity.

Growth is expected to be more than 7.5% and one of the drivers of this will be infrastructure growth which has picked up on the back of accelerated government spending on highways, railways and the power sector.

Addressing a press conference, Finance Secretary Ratan P Wattal flanked by the other secretaries in the Finance Ministry, said despite the global slowdown and declining export demand, India has emerged as the fastest growing major economy in the world and anchored by strong macro-fundamentals is better placed to handle external shocks.

However, revenue collection is likely to fall short of the target. Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia said it will fall short of the budgetary target by 5-7%, mainly because of subdued growth in direct taxes.

The total tax revenue is likely to be around Rs 14 lakh crore in the current fiscal, as against the budget estimate of Rs 14.5 lakh crore, a shortfall of Rs 50,000 crore.

As regards growth, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said there are indications that it will exceed 7.5% in the current financial year. It may be pointed out that the RBI had recently cut the GDP target.

The fiscal deficit target will meet with better spending. The Finance Ministry said digitisation and Aadhaar seeding of Public Distribution System (PDS) is being pursued all over the country to lay the foundation for next generation of PDS reforms along the lines of the JAM trinity outlined in the Economic Survey of 2015-16.

Overall, expenditure on major subsidies as a percentage of GDP has come down from 2.5% of GDP in 2012-13 to 1.6% of GDP in 2015-16 as direct benefit transfer schemes in LPG, diesel deregulation, lower diversion of fertiliser through neem-coated urea and lower prices of oil kicked in.

Higher growth is being driven by stronger government spending on infrastructure. Infrastructure spending has picked up on the back of accelerated government spending on highways, railways and the power sector. The Finance Ministry noted that the Plan capex has increased by over 30% this year. This is beginning to crowd-in private investment, and the public-private partnership projects which had stalled are also now picking up.

The Finance Secretary said the government has achieved 10% increase in tax devolution to the states, achieved over 30% increase in the Plan capex, and yet, adhered to the fiscal glide path outlined in the Budget. “We continue to work together on rationalising Central sector schemes and programmes in run-up to the Union Budget 2016-17”, he added.