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, May 16, 2011

1303 - Speed up tendering for Aadhaar'- Source TOI

May 12, 2011, 05.37am IST
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Anoop Mishra has issued directives to UP government officials asking them to speed up the tendering process for appointment of enrolment agencies to carry out aadhaar enrolment under the unique identification project.

Though the process of Aadhaar number disbursal by non-state registrars has already begun in UP, the state government, despite having entered into an MoU with UIDAI in August 2010, and appointing the Department of Food and Civil Supplies as state government registrar, has not completed all operational formalities necessary to begin the enrolment process. A senior bureaucrat confirmed, "The government is eager to complete the formalities. The tendering process will be done soon."

In a meeting of UIDAI authorities with the UP Chief Secretary Anoop Mishra, on Tuesday, Mishra directed department officials to begin the necessary tendering process "as soon as possible.'' A UIDAI official in Lucknow confirmed, "Yes, in the meeting of UIDAI officials with the chief secretary, officials have been directed to expedite the process. A deadline for when this must be done by, however, has not been identified.''
In UP, Aadhaar numbers are currently being issued by three non-state registrars — State Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce. However, with nonstate registrars looking to tap only 10% of the state's total population, the bulk of the enrolment process will be undertaken by the state government, which will, in turn, appoint enrolling agencies to collect the demographic and biometric data from applicants. Earlier, while talking to TOI, Alok Chopra, additional director general, UIDAI, said, "The process has just begun in UP. Once the state government starts the enrolment process, permanent enrolment centres will be set up across the city and state to enrol people. No one needs to be worried about missing the bus.'' In Lucknow, aadhaar numbers are being issued by Smartchip Limited (SL), on behalf of SBI acting as Central Registrar. For the enrolment process, SL will conduct an Inform, Educate and Communicate (IEC) campaign in each of the ward areas, where the enrolment process is being conducted.

In order to receive the unique ID number, a person must be a resident of India. The state government has issued a list of documents that can be produced for proof of identity and residence. However, for those who have no documents, the government has appointed verifiers for different areas who can vouch for the person as being a resident of the area. The UID will collect only biometric and demographic information about an individual and will not ask for information on caste, religion or language.

Residents will be photographed, their fingerprints taken and irises scanned. Aadhaar numbers will be issued within a month of the processes being completed. Further to this, applicants will receive a letter from UIDAI, bearing the candidate's Aadhaar number and other details, as declared to the UID authorities.

While the UID will not replace other identification documents, residents have the option to link it to their bank accounts.At last count, the nonstate registrars, through their enrolment agencies had issued 76,290 Aadhaar numbers in Uttar Pradesh. The highest numbers were recorded in Unnao (at 14,912), while the lowest numbers were recorded in Ballia (1532). In Lucknow, a total of 7035 aadhar numbers have been generated so far. Currently, SBI is conducting an enrolment drive in 12 districts, Central Bank of India in five and Oriental Bank of Commerce in two districts of Uttar Pradesh.


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