AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 754 - adhar continues to make good progress in Mysore

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

Friday, October 22, 2010

754 - adhar continues to make good progress in Mysore - Express Buzz

MYSORE,: Aadhaar, the new multipurpose national identity card programme of the Unique Identification Authority of India, which was launched in Mysore coinciding with this year’s Dasara inaugural on October 8, has so far enrolled around 2,500 citizens in the last 14 days.

Apart from opening five Aadhar counters in Mysore One centres in the city, the Department of E-governance had opened eight counters in the Exhibition Ground.

A representative of COMAT, an outsourcing agency, said that enrolment in the Mysore One centres is showing a slow improvement.

Chandru, a data entry operator in COMAT, said that as many as 150 members are enrolling everyday.

“The procedure takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Scrutiny of residence proof, identification and biometric impressions of iris, finger and thumb impressions form part of the procedure. At times, people get upset over being made to wait for a few minutes,” he detailed. Another operator Giridhar said that the verification procedure takes a longer time for senior citizens as their finger prints and iris may not be clearly obtained. Aadhar staff have issued enrolment documents to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who will get the UID within 20 days after enrollment.
UIDs to curb unauthorised IP-sets

Meanwhile, the state government plans to take stock of the inventory of IP sets in the state as concerned electricity supply companies (ESCOMS) did not have exact statistics of IP-sets. This is also being seen as a measure to curb unauthorised IP set connections by making compulsory registration of IP set nos while enrolling for UID.

Sources in Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) confirmed that about two lakh out of a total of 18.5 lakh IP sets in the state are unauthorised in all five Escoms of the state, viz-Bescom, Gescom, Hescom, Mescom and Cesc, due to which, Escoms were not able to claim proper subsidies from the state government.

The state government had issued an order on October 6 asking IP set owners to provide their IP set no/RR no (Revenue Record no) to UID centres to be opened in all gram panchayats along with the IP set sanctioning letter issued by concerned authorities.

Failure to do so will result in such IP sets being dropped from the government’s list of beneficiaries. Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company (CESC) has drawn the attention of IP-set owners in this regard. Referring to the orders issued by the state government on October 6, CESC general manager Kushalappa appealed to all IP set owners to cooperate with the directions.

ENROLMENT FOR AADHAR TO BE FAST-TRACKED
Mysore: In order to speed up enrollment to Aadhaar project in the district, the district administration has entrusted certain responsibilites with concerned authorities for creating awareness among people. Deputy Commissioner Harsha Gupta issued a circular directing the Assistant Commissioners, tahsildars to conduct taluk-level UID committee meetings, along with nodal officers once every 15 days. Meanwhile, at an Aaadhar implementation commitee meeting held at DC’s office here on Thursday, Additional Deputy Commissioner C J Betsurmath instructed authorities to implement all necessary measures. He added that the state and central governments had chosen Mysore district for implementing the pilot Aadhaar project which will be completed before December 2010. He also suggested the authorities to concentrate on rural enrollment UID centres.