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

Thursday, September 29, 2011

1641 - RPF/PLA likely to disturb UID collection in Manipur: MHA- Nagaland Post

Correspondent, IMPHAL, SEP 28 :Published on 29 Sep. 2011 12:05 AM IST

Following instruction from Union ministry of Home Affairs, IGP (Armed Police and Operation) Manipur has asked SPs of all districts to ensure that strict action be taken up against RPF/PLA cadres, who try to distrub the implementation of AADHAR scheme (UID) in Manipur.

Earlier, asserting that the cadres of outlaw RPF/PLA are likely to disrupt in the implementation of AADHAR scheme (UID) in Manipur, the Union ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Manipur government to provide necessary security arrangements to those government officials engaged in the implementation of the scheme.

The intimation from the under secretary (NE-I), MHA addressed to the Manipur chief secretary was received recently in the first week of this month, September, an official source said Wednesday.

The intimation based on the input gathered by the MHA, indicated that the proscribed outfit (RPF/PLA) is planning to disrupt collection of bio-data ad photographs of the government under the AADHAR scheme (UID).

Directions were conveyed to cadres of the outfit by its self styled general secretary of RPF/PLA, Gunen, to take immediate steps for disruption. The PLA cadres have also been instructed upon to destroy documents related to the scheme and suitably ‘punish’ government officials, who refuse to hand over the documents, it added.

In this context, the so-called district commanders of the outfit have been asked to deploy cadres for contacting officials involved in implementation of the scheme, the source quoted as stated in the MHA’s intimation.

 “All district SPs have been asked to police stations under their control to have a close vigilant on the officials on field duty of collection of bio-data ad photographs under the scheme,” said an official in the state police department when contacted by this correspondent.

The enrollment process for UID Aadhaar Cards will also be carried out across the country under NPR (National Population Register in Manipur along with other states like Delhi and Nagaland.

Under the scheme, photographs, image of iris and ten finger prints are collected for preparation of NPR. It was started in Manipur as second phase of Census of India 2011 operation in February this year.

The NPR will create an identity data base, help in targeting public services and better planning and strengthen national security. Altogether 7000 enumerators and supervisors were deployed for census 2011 for Manipur. Around Rs two crore was being earmarked for Manipur.
National Population Register (NPR) contains details of each individual in a family, along with photographs and finger biometrics of the people, who are 18 years of age and above. But the NPR does not confer citizenship rights.

The AADHAR process collects 35 types of details related to each individual including persons living in a family, their sex, number of married couples, number of dwelling rooms, type of latrine, fuel used for cooking, source of drinking water, type of floor, wall, roof, whether anyone owns car / two wheeler, anyone availing bank service among others, etc.<