AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 12737 - Homeless In UP Denied Night Shelters Without Aadhaar, "What Do We Do?" They Ask

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, January 14, 2018

12737 - Homeless In UP Denied Night Shelters Without Aadhaar, "What Do We Do?" They Ask - NDTV

Homeless In UP Denied Night Shelters Without Aadhaar, "What Do We Do?" They Ask

There is no clarity on what the homeless people are required to do -- do they need to get new Aadhaar cards made, if yes, what's the procedure?

All India | Written by Alok Pandey | Updated: January 13, 2018 12:40 IST

The UP government says its trying to ensure that the homeless are accommodated in shelters.

LUCKNOW: Around 9 pm on a Friday night, near a crowded intersection in Lucknow, the Parivartan Chowk, a 40-year-old rickshaw puller, Himachal, originally from a village in the Rae Bareli district and homeless in Lucknow, gears up to spend yet another bitterly cold night on the streets.

A privately run night shelter just a few steps away won't allow him in as he doesn't have an Aadhaar card. "I had an Aadhaar card at home, but rats chewed it up. I don't know if I can get another one made. I don't have any other id proof. If we go to a night shelter, private or government, they demand to see our Aadhaar and if we don't have, we are turned away, leaving us with no choice but to sleep on the pavement," Himachal said.

NDTV decided to verify his claim and sent a cab driver to enter a night shelter posing as a homeless person. This is how the conversation went:

Caretaker: Give me an id proof.

Cab driver: Which id?

Caretaker: Aadhaar card.

Cab driver: I don't have an Aadhaar card. Since when has this rule been in place?

Caretaker: It's been a long time.

Cab driver: Can I stay somehow?

Caretaker: No. There is a government-run shelter nearby. You can go there.

Cab driver: Will they ask for an id proof there?

Caretaker: Yes

When we asked Rohit Saxena, the caretaker of the shelter, about the criterion, he said, "An officer had come about 8-9 days ago. He checked the register and said if you feel someone looks suspicious, don't let them in without an id proof."

But he added that "some people choose to stay on pavements". He said, "They sleep outside to collect blankets donated by people. They then sell them for a price."

At 10 pm at a government-run night shelter in Daliganj, Lalit and Ram Jeeva, both daily wagers from the Sitapur district, quickly take out their neatly wrapped Aadhaar cards to show them to us. It's their ticket to a night with a blanket and pillow under a roof, they say.

"We were told by others who stayed at this night shelter that we would be allowed in only if we had an Aadhaar card," said Ram Jeevan, an elderly, who came to Lucknow three days ago and has been sleeping at this night shelter since.

Rahul Kumar Pandey, the caretaker here, insists on keeping a photocopy of the Aadhar card. "I don't have any orders to ask for Aadhaar, but these days they are the best form of identification. Sometimes people escape with blankets, bedsheets and other stuff. So what do we do?" he asked.

At 11 pm, near a posh central lucknow locality, we meet Kamlesh, Buddhi Sagar and Ram Kumar, daily wagers from Bahraich district along the Nepal border who tell us that they are not carrying their Aadhaar cards, but the caretaker at this night shelter here lets them in anyway.

There are two types of government shelters -- permanent and temporary -- besides some privately run homes in the state. A senior officer told NDTV that there is no obligation to produce Aadhaar card to enter these shelters, however, at permanent structures, some identity proof is required. He added that action will be taken against those demanding Aadhaar and turning away those without the national identity card.

Three days ago, the Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government if a homeless person doesn't have the Aadhaar, will he not exist for them? The court asked this after a lawyer representing the UP government in a case related to night shelters for the homeless remarked that "some sort of identification like an Aadhaar" can be used while admitting people into the shelters.

The insistence on identification angered the court, but it didn't bring any clarity on what the homeless people need are required to do -- do they need to get new Aadhaar cards made, if yes, what's the procedure?

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing Uttar Pradesh government, said, "We are dealing with a human problem. Permanent address can be given for it (Aadhaar). They (urban homeless) remain a floating population."

He added that the state was alive to the situation and trying its best to ensure that all such persons are accommodated in shelter homes.