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

Friday, November 20, 2015

9060 - Irregularities alleged in ITDA schools - The Hindu


A well-oiled network of headmasters and officials milks them dry

The student roll is stuffed with fictitious entries and funds provided by government agencies are allegedly swindled.


At GTW Ashram School for tribal children in Dumbriguda mandal in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam district, the total enrolment of students stands at 210. But a physical check reveals that only about 120-130 are present on any given day.
The same is the case in schools run by the District Education Office (DEO), where physical attendance in four of the six schools visited by The Hindu was less than 10 per cent. But food and other supplies such as cosmetics and uniforms provided by the government are requisitioned for the total strength.

These are just a few of the cases where the student roll is stuffed with fictitious entries and funds provided by government agencies leak through the loopholes.

In the picturesque Agency areas of Visakhapatnam district, over 120 schools are run by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), and around 1,840 schools are run by the DEO. Put together, they cater to about 1.04 lakh students in the tribal areas -- on paper.

While schools run by ITDA are residential, those run by DEO are day schools where mid-day meals are provided.

In ITDA schools, the government coughs up Rs. 27 per student. In the day schools, mid-day meals are provided at a cost of Rs. 4.60 per student.

Official sources say the irregularities are committed in two ways: first by creating fictitious entries in the rolls and secondly by inflating the attendance. If one ITDA school inflates its attendance by 100 students, the money leaked would stand at Rs. 2,700 per day, Rs. 81,000 per month, and Rs. 9.7 lakh per year.

The money always does not come in the form of cash. Many items such as rice, dal and oils are provided by the Girijan Cooperative Corporation and only purchases of vegetables and other items are made by cash at the school level.

In some of the schools, eggs, which are part of the mid-day meal, are not served. “The eggs come but are sold in the open market by some of the people in the management,” said a teacher in Paderu.

Inflated attendance
“Inflated attendance is used to justify inflated inventories, and the surplus is sold in the open market. The irregularities are committed mostly by headmasters and wardens in connivance with some officers in the ITDA and DEO. This is a well-oiled chain. It is worse in the DEO-run schools,” said a teacher from Chintapalli, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Last year, the total budget sanctioned for ITDA schools was about Rs. 54 crore. This year it is around Rs. 66 crore. In the case of DEO schools, the total diet charges till date have already exceeded Rs. 20 crore.
It is estimated that about 10-15 per cent of the funds are lost through inflated rolls or attendance.
According to ITDA Project Officer Hari Narayanan, attendance rigging has been happening for a long time. “We are trying our best to plug it. Aadhaar seeding for the student rolls is one solution we have tried and we have been able to plug the irregularities to a great extent,” he said. Post Aadhaar seeding, the enrolment rate has dropped. In 2013-14, the enrolment figure in ITDA schools was 42,607; in 2014-15 it dropped to 40,616. This year, it has fallen to 36,217, according to Mr. Hari Narayanan.