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

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

10067 - Why e-governance services in rural India are getting popular - Financial Express

Basically, in order to offer a hassle free government services experience, CSC has recently launched cash on delivery option for government-to-citizen (G2C) services.

By: Mohd Ujaley | Updated: May 30, 2016 6:10 PM

Services such as payment of electricity bill, application for ration card and election photo identity card are frequently sought after. CSC is now mulling to leverage it vast network to provide internet services in rural villages. (AP)

Adnan Khan, who runs a dental clinic in Meerut, could not follow up on the status of his Aadhaar card application due to his hectic schedule. After a delay of more than a month, he sought details with the nearest common service centre (CSC), an e-governance delivery centre having basic computing infrastructure, run by the local community entrepreneur. To his pleasant surprise, the CSC delivered the printed Aadhaar card the next day. The dentist had to pay only Rs 50 for the service.
Basically, in order to offer a hassle free government services experience, CSC has recently launched cash on delivery option for government-to-citizen (G2C) services. Now, one need not stand in a queue to obtain government documents. By merely submitting an online request, services could be availed sitting at home. Currently, Aadhaar card related services are being offered under this programme. “If you can deliver G2C services in a cash-on-delivery mode, insulating people from going to government offices, you will bring a revolution in the mindset of people,” says Dinesh Tyagi, CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India, adding that about 10% of total 100 crore Aadhaar enrolments have been done by CSCs and almost 40% of Aadhaar applications are being generated through CSCs.
CSCs were envisaged to be a strategic component of the National eGovernance Plan (NeGP) in 2006 as a low cost medium for government organisations to deliver the e-governance services to the rural population. Although, over the years, about 1,60,000 CSCs across 600,000 rural villages have been set up under the PPP, they remained largely inactive in the absence of public and business-to-consumer services and half-hearted efforts on the part of government and private organisations running the network. Therefore, the department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) set up a monitoring unit—CSC Special Purpose Vehicle —in 2012 to oversee the implementation of the CSC schemes.
Since then, the focus of CSC has evolved and it has now forayed into government financial inclusion and pension schemes. About 30,000 CSCs are involved in the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. And last year’s financial commission to these CSCs had been R40 crore from banking services alone. “Our objective is to make every CSC a business correspondence point so that they can deliver banking and corresponding services. To enable this, we have recently signed the agreements with almost all the major public sector banks,” informs Tyagi.
Interestingly, most of these CSCs work as an agent for insurance companies by collecting their premium and selling insurance products. According to an estimate by CSC, they collect R1 crore premium every day, leading to enhanced commission for the local entrepreneur and higher renewal rate for insurance firms. Although services related to banking and insurance fetch more commission for local entrepreneurs, the major attraction of the people remain basic services such as getting application forms or getting assistance in applying for the jobs. Services such as payment of electricity bill, application for ration card and election photo identity card are frequently sought after. CSC is now mulling to leverage it vast network to provide internet services in rural villages. It has recently taken the ISP license to enable local entrepreneurs to offer internet service through NOFN backbone.
In addition, CSC is building an e-commerce platform for enabling village level entrepreneurs to sell popular local products across the country. “Although, we have signed the agreements with Flipkart and Snapdeal, they mostly serve in urban areas. We are now trying to create ourselves a platform to do something with the products which are unique to India,” says Tyagi, adding that entrepreneurs will be encouraged to sell popular local products like Agra shoes.