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, November 18, 2015

9042 - Devise flexible education loans, defaults on rise: Raghuram Rajan - Economic Times

PTI Nov 6, 2015, 06.52PM IST

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern over rising defaults in education loans, Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan today said they should be devised in a flexible manner, providing options like automtic moratorium if borrowers are "under a period of unemployment".
He also stressed on making know-your-customer (KYC) norms simplier.
There are "lots of NPAs (bad loans) in the education sector. They have been rising in the last few years. It's a matter of concern," he said at the 6th Delhi Economics Conclave here.

Banks, he said, are increasingly asking for collateral for education loans. "If it is above 4 lakh they have right to ask for that collateral but it is an issue."
Education is one of the most important investments, he said, adding that more flexible loans can be created by using unique identification number or Aadhaar information.

For example, "if you go under a period of unemployment you get an automatic moratorium. Doesn't have to be negotiated with bank, it's written up in your contract.

"Similarly if you get really high-paying job you pay a little more. If you get low paying job or you go to public sector and work in public sector maybe you pay a little less. So, can we tailor such loans and how do we do it? There are a number of plans floating," he said.

On KYC norms, he said it was important to make KYC simpler and easily accessible especially for the people who are moderately literate, who don't carry lot of documents.
"If they get access to KYC which can be triggered with biometric, with Aadhaar. That will be really good.

"If they want more sophisticated product then KYC becomes more sophisticated. For basic products, basic KYC. Now we have to integrate across all the financial regulators. The FSDC has a proposal which we are working on. We are nearly there. I think we should see that very soon," he said.
Rajan said rules on consumer protection are in the works. "At the end of the year, will roll out a set of regulations on that."
On financial literacy, he said there is a need to teach where there is lack of information and lack of knowledge on the essentials of managing finance.
"I think we are on the verge of a paradigm shift of how we do financial inclusion. We have gone some way with enormous number of accounts which have been opened with the direct benefit transfer that you saw that is already underway.
"But there are enormous opportunities we can take advantage of, enormous profitable opportunities which will help both the consumer as well as the provider.
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  • "That technology we already have, the institution are coming, the regulations will follow as appropriate. So what we really have to do now, implement, implement and implement," he said.
    Rajan said that instead of mandate for financial inclusion, focus is on moving towards profitable business proposition.
    "Increasingly, we are trying to find bottom of the pyramid as profitable proposition so banks will go out. Institutions and other entities will go out to offer financial services without forced by mandate.
    "Finally, in terms of delivery is no longer just a branch, the branch is just one vehicle but there are many other vehicles for delivery. The idea is to deliver at the doorstep or close to the doorstep," he said.
    The RBI Governor said Aadhaar is extremely useful from variety of aspects, one of the most important being the ability to build credit history. "Once you have Aadhaar number banks feel safer lending to you because they know that you will be reluctant to default."
    Banks, Rajan said, need to be paid commission on direct benefit transfer (DBT) to make them profitable.
    "We are on the verge of cashless, paperless, presence less economy and that would be extremely important to the poor who have to travel large distances, don't have lot of ability to carry paper.
    "If they could have an experience which is paperless, cashless and presence less- they would have much better access to financial services," he said.
    Listing big game changers coming in the next few quarters, he said, one is a common risk-based KYC. The second is Payment Banks.
    "These entities will help in traversing the last mile. Whether it is the mobile companies whether it is the post office... I think we are going to see enormous innovation," he said.
    Also, a whole new set of institutions are coming up in addition to Payments Banks, the small Finance Banks.
    "The idea behind the small finance banks is let me put a person at the lending desk, who is local, who knows who the people are in village, who knows the behaviour and can go out and make appropriate loans. A number of the organisations that we have given licences to, we hope will enter areas, cities, North East, other places where there are still numerous under served and help us progress," he said.
    In addition, changes need to be brought to protect the excluded when they are brought into the system.

    "Another game changer is online markets. When you visit these small areas making very fine products in small quantities their biggest problem is reaching the market and if they can reach the market via these online providers a whole new set of opportunities open up for them," he said.