AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 1298 - Enroll more, get 25 paise per person: state to staff - Source

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

Saturday, May 14, 2011

1298 - Enroll more, get 25 paise per person: state to staff - Source - Indian Express

Nisha Nambiar,

Posted May 14th, 2011

Pune

In a unique initiative, the state government has offered an incentive to its employees for enrolling more residents for the Unique Identification Number scheme. This is according to a government resolution issued on April 11 which states that it will pay 25 paisa per enrollment to its employees working in the taluka and municipal areas who are engaged in the enrollment work for Aadhar.

A senior officer in charge of the UID project in the state said the incentive has come after the state in its tendering process was able to fix the rate of enrollment at Rs 40 per card from the 13 agencies roped in for UID project in the state. “The central government gives the state government Rs 50 per enrollment for each card. We at the state level have been able to get it at Rs 40 and the extra Rs 10 saved_ will have the state government keep Rs 5 while the remaining Rs 5 will be given to the respective collectors and the municipal commissioners for each district where the collector /municipal commissioner in the rural and city areas is free to decide on the incentive to be given to tehsildars or other officers to carry out the process,''said the officer.

None of the officers have yet got any incentive and it would be doled out in June.The officer stated that the discretion will be on the collector and the municipal commissioer after proper assessment of the work completed under the UID project. "We are getting enough funds for the project and we want to speed up the process so that we can meet the 2012 deadline,''added the officer.

Meanwhile the state government has received Rs 31 crore to be given to BPL families for participating in the UID drive. The state has registered 50 lakh under this drive and nearly 9 lakh have received the UID cards.

This incentive would be derived from the Rs5 per UID number provided to the district collectors and municipal commissioners in the state. The balance Rs4.75 would be spent on daily expenses incurred for items like electricity, maintenance of the enrolment centre as well as travelling and daily allowances and training and seminar expenses.

The GR also mentions that the union government has sanctioned Rs50 per UID number for enrolling the first 20 crore residents for the Aadhaar project by March 2012. The incentive of 25 paisa per UID number would effectively be paid out of this amount.

According to some residents, incentives need not be paid for a drive which is carried out in the country. "It is a duty which falls in their purview of the departments and there is no need of such incentive and how will it be assessed,''questions Seema Naik, a resident from Bibwewadi area who is yet to get her UID card. However, some government employees under condition of anonymity feels that since it is under the discretion of the collector, the incentive may never really reach them.