AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 12808 - UIDAI's move to drop CSC pact for Aadhaar services sparks job loss fears

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

Thursday, February 15, 2018

12808 - UIDAI's move to drop CSC pact for Aadhaar services sparks job loss fears - Business Standard

UIDAI's move to drop CSC pact for Aadhaar services sparks job loss fears

With Aadhaar services taken away, many CSC owners have now asked their staff to leave as volume of work reduced

Kiran Rathee | New Delhi

Last Updated at February 15, 2018 02:18 IST

There are around 60,000 gram panchayats that don’t have a CSC at present

The Unique Identification Authority of India’s (UIDAI’s) decision to not renew its agreement with common service centres (CSCs) for Aadhaar-related services could possibly hit thousands of jobs and investments worth millions.

More than 50,000 jobs could be at risk as Aadhaar enrolment and updation services contribute significantly to CSC earnings, according to officials close to the development. On average, a centre employs three to four persons. And there are around 280,000 CSCs across the country. Estimates suggest around 12,000 CSCs have been involved in Aadhaar enrolment and around 45,000 in updation work. While earlier over 27,000 CSCs were engaged in Aadhaar-related work, the government subsequently decided that enrolment centres must operate only from government premises and some 12,000 CSCs opted for it.

With Aadhaar services taken away, many CSC owners have now asked their staff to leave as the volume of work has reduced.

In fact, village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) who run these centres are upset. Business Standard spoke to many of them to assess the situation. Alok, who runs a CSC in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, said his Aadhaar ID to undertake enrolment and updation had been lying inactive for the past 15-20 days. He said for starting Aadhaar services, he took a loan to invest over Rs 100,000 for buying hardware and a laptop. He was earning between Rs 10,000 and Rs 15,000 a month doing Aadhaar enrolment and updation work. “About 25 to 30 people come daily to our centre for Aadhaar-related work, but we are not able to provide services as my ID is lying inactive,” he said.

A VLE has to invest around Rs 150,000 to put in machines, including computers and iris and fingerprint scanners, for providing Aadhaar services.

Pradeep Sharma, another VLE from Morena district in Madhya Pradesh, said he was running losses to the tune of Rs 50,000-Rs 70,000 a month because of non-availability of Aadhaar work.

Sharma, who has asked two of his employees to leave, said his centre was doing Aadhaar-related work since May 2013. His centre itself has done more than 150,000 enrolments. “Earlier, we used to do over 50-70 enrolments every day… We believe the UIDAI no longer requires us because most of the enrolments have been done now,” said Sharma, whose Aadhaar ID, too, has been lying dormant since January.

On being told that the UIDAI has not renewed CSCs’ agreement because of a number of complaints of corruption and enrolment process violations linked to the centres, Sharma said everybody should not be penalised for a mistake. Sharma claimed he was rewarded for excellence in work. He recalled meeting Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at a CSC conference some time ago.

In fact, Prasad has often projected CSCs as job enablers across the country. According to the minister, about 1 million people are employed in CSCs and this number could go up to 10 million in the coming years. Given the immense potential of the service, it was decided recently that every gram panchayat should have a CSC.

According to Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, chief executive officer of CSC E-Governance Services India, there are around 60,000 gram panchayats that do not have a CSC at present. However, by next month, all panchayats will be provided with a CSC. The government had identified locations and by next month, these new CSCs would be functional, he added.

First Published: Thu, February 15 2018. 05:45 IST