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

Sunday, June 5, 2016

10100 - Mamata Banerjee Hits Out At Centre For 'Increasing Tax Burden' On People - NDTV


Updated: June 03, 2016 17:01 IST



West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said expenses were increasing for the people by means of service tax and cess. (PTI file photo)

KOLKATA:  West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today hit out at the Centre for "increasing tax burden" on people and making Aadhaar card mandatory for getting benefit of government schemes.

Ms Banerjee said expenses were increasing for the people by means of service tax and cess.

Even the bill for mediclaim has increased from Rs.17,000 to Rs.30,000, she said and criticised the Centre for Aadhaar cards, saying that 20-30 per cent people still did not have the cards.

She said poor people would be deprived of the benefits and money from government schemes if they don't have the card.

After the first administrative review meeting of the new government, Ms Banerjee said she had given instructions to restart all development work which had remained stalled for the last few months due to the Assembly polls.

In the last financial year 2015-16, the state plan expenditure budget was Rs.49,507 crore but the actual expenditure was Rs.53,010 crore.

"In other states the total amount of planned expenditure funds is not spent but we exceeded by 15 per cent," she said, adding there is no such instance of actual plan expenditure surpassing the budgeted figure in the last 20 years.

For the new financial year 2016-17, the finance department has released Rs.11,573 crore for which directions were issued to take steps for their immediate utilisation.

In 2010-11, the plan expenditure was around Rs.14,000 crore which has increased by nearly four times to Rs.53,010 crore now.

Moreover, the budgeted figure of Rs.49,507 crore was itself higher than the actual of previous year i.e. Rs.39,444 crore by over 25 per cent.

The budgeted figure is projected higher than the actual of the previous year to target a higher growth trajectory for overall growth.

By achieving the state plan expenditure of Rs.53,010 crore, the state has achieved a year-on-year growth of nearly 35 per cent from the previous year's expenditure of Rs.39,444 crore.

In the wake of Vivekananda flyover collapse in which 26 people were killed on March 31, officials said instructions have been issued on condition-monitoring of bridges, flyovers, etc which has to be done meticulously and on a priority basis.

On health issues, the chief minister said two districts of Uttar Dinajpur and Malda are lagging behind in institutional delivery.

State Power Minister Sovandeb Chatterjee said the state-run West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited has launched a new mobile app for payment of bills.

"By 2016 all government offices should be running on solar power and by this year we want to achieve 100 per cent rural electrification," he said.