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

Monday, November 29, 2010

889 - Solving The Identity Problem

27 Nov, 2010 0000hrs IST [ Vijay Kelkar ]

Since the early part of this decade, our governments have emphasised the problems of poverty and unequal growth as important challenges. Economic policies are built on political foundations, and this focus of our leaders and governments on inclusive growth has been, therefore, a critical first step. With this shift in our developmental priorities, there are now broad-ranging efforts which have the potential to permanently change how we fight poverty and inequality in this country.

I have spoken for some years in favour of a national ID system, and how it can be a powerful means to bring better access for the poor. It can help address the causes that lie at the root of poverty and exclusion, and address the basic challenges surrounding what many of us refer to as the 'last mile'. It is a foundational infrastructure that - like the social security number in the US and the welfare number in Europe - can make both governments and markets function better.

To acknowledge the role that the Aadhaar number can play in our development efforts, we must consider what lies at the root of our challenges today. The poor across the country have much fewer choices than the rest of us due to the scarcities of their environment, and the limitations they face in educational and employment opportunities. As a result, their incomes grow slower, steady work is difficult to find, and they often risk losing what little they have due to sudden calamities in health and environment. To work up the ladder of income and achievement, it is necessary to first get on it, but the poor, the 'left behind', often find it difficult to get their hands on the bottom rung. Our approach must focus on giving the poor the tools to get on the ladder, and access the resources they need to move up and out of poverty.

The unique identification initiative emphasises precisely these kinds of tools. The number brings with it powerful features, and an important one is the unique identification of an individual. In a country where fake and duplicate identities are used across systems to divert benefits en route to the poor, an individual's unique, real-time identification can help do away with the bogus identities that are used to channel funds away from real beneficiaries.

Another great advantage of the Aadhaar number is its universal application, and the opportunity it gives us to do away with multiple, criss-crossing schemes. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has noted that in Delhi alone, there are 48 programmes for different categories of poor in the city, and defined for different income levels. The Aadhaar number would be applicable across these databases, clearly verifying the person across benefit schemes and services. This gives governments a chance to streamline their social programmes, and target them more effectively to the individual.

The Aadhaar number also enables the poor to fulfil the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms that, today, often limit them from using basic services proof of identity and proof of address requirements that they must fulfil in order to use services such as banking and telecom.

This is an initiative that is particularly valuable to migrants. India is increasingly a highly mobile country. A large proportion of Indians are self-employed, and they move often. Many of these migrants, particularly the poor, find that they descend into anonymity when they move. The identification and address documents the poor depend on - ration cards and land records - are usually local proofs, and lose their value when people cross the village, district or state. As a result, poor migrants find themselves denied services and marginalised once they leave their villages. The Aadhaar number, since it's a portable identification/proof of address that can be regularly updated by the individual and used nationally, is a powerful tool for migrants to access services and benefits.

The Aadhaar feature with perhaps the widest applicability is how it makes the confirmation of service delivery possible. Governments and service providers today have little oversight over the transfer of benefits to the poor or the quality of the final delivery point, where the person receives the service. As a result, people across the supply chain often act as independent agents, who may divert funds en route, deny service at the point of delivery, or demand bribes from the beneficiary.

Aadhaar brings accountability to these actors, and makes the last mile in delivering benefits less opaque. Real-time verification of identity through Aadhaar enables individuals to confirm to service providers and governments instantly whether they have received a particular service, or a benefit.

I venture to say that Aadhaar will enable us to put in place a well functioning social safety net for our citizens by unifying all subsidies into cash-based transfers. For example, Aadhaar offers a better alternative to promote food security for our citizens than many other proposals that are being presently discussed as Aadhaar will help the government to save enormous costs while improving transparency and accountability. In other words Aadhaar-based transfers will pave a way to secure lasting improvement of governance in our country.

The writer is chairman, India Development Foundation .