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

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

388 - Aahaar seeks to bring migrant workers into the mainstream - Dailyme Article

Aahaar seeks to bring migrant workers into the mainstream
MINT, NEW DELHI | KAREN LEIGH AND MALIA POLITZER | Tue, Aug 3, 3:26 AM

Aug. 03--Migrant workers, a traditionally poor and marginalized group, could be brought further into the mainstream with access to services such as banking, the public distribution system (PDS), the government's flagship welfare programme and social protection.

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday in Mumbai with the National Coalition of Organisations for Security of Migrant Workers (NCOSMW), a consortium of 23 organizations that work with migrants in key originating states, stipulating that they will work together to facilitate the enrolment of migrants for unique identity numbers as part of the Aadhaar programme.

"Suppose a migrant labourer is working in Gujarat and he had a dispute with his employer; he's not able to get work in another state because he has no proof that he used to work anyplace," said N.K. Sinha, UIDAI's deputy director general, who co-signed the agreement. "That was the migrants' main concern--they want an official ID so they can prove they are who they claim to be."

He said there are currently 120 million such undocumented migrants working outside their states of origin. Most lack bank accounts, and are unable to easily remit money home, according to Rajiv Khandelwal of NCOSMW.

"One of the big crises that migrants face is a lack of identity. If they cross the state border, they become undocumented aliens in the state," Khandelwal said. "They cannot open a bank account, can't access legal services, may be denied PDS, cannot access rations--often at times cannot even access a place to stay. This is the core of the problem. One way to solve this is to offer an ID that establishes a person is who they say they are."

However, UIDAI could face hurdles in registering a fluid population whose millions of members lack permanent addresses, one of the major informational requirements on the UID application.

"The challenges will be huge," said S.L. Rao, a former director general of the National Council for Applied Economic Research. "Rural migrants and people in transit are going to be a problem, and there are going to be people who slip through the net."

That's where NCOSMW comes in. According to Khandelwal, coalition member organizations have long-standing relationships with migrant communities in key states where they originate from--Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

The coalition plans to activate resource centres aimed at serving migrants at the block level in source states and the city level in key destinations. By going directly to migrant communities, launching educational campaigns about the importance of UIDAI and helping migrants with the registration process, NCOSMW hopes to reach a population that has remained virtually invisible.

"Through our walk-in centres we are able to close the route between source and destination," Khandelwal said. "The problem with migrant workers is you don't know how to find them if they aren't in villages, and even in the cities they are somewhat invisible. By being present at both the source and major destination, we are able to actually interface with them at both ends."

The agreement could also prompt other communities to join forces with Aadhaar, which aims to provide over 600 million Indians with a universal 12-digit unique identity number in the next four years.

UIDAI chairman and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has said his team's foremost goal is to improve the lives of poor workers in urban and rural areas by providing them access to services such as government food programmes and personal banking.

"It will provide a lot of incentive for other groups," Sinha said. "Our objective is to focus on people who generally get neglected by these programmes. NGOs (non-governmental organizations, such as NCOSMW) bring people to our registrars and educate them on what Aadhaar will do for them."

Rao was quick to add that during the general population census, takers "might miss a few million, (but) by and large catch everybody. So you can do the same here. They might miss a bit, but the migrants themselves will be caught in the places where they've migrated to. What they will find difficult are the people in transit, but I suspect that UID authorities will figure out a way to go back and recount".

The migrant workers pact was followed on Friday by MoUs with the petroleum ministry and Punjab National Bank to link its all-access numbers with government programmes and banks as part of its nationwide financial inclusion efforts.

karen.l@livemint.com
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