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

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

1975 - Accenture Awarded Management Consulting Contract from Maharashtra Government - Market Watch

Nov. 14, 2011, 1:30 a.m. EST

Technology Solution to help Department of Labor manage laws, services for 20 million people

MUMBAI, India, Nov 14, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Government of Maharashtra has awarded Accenture ACN +0.55%  a three-year, management consulting and technology contract to help manage the administration of labor laws and create a management system to support services ranging from renewal of licenses to filing online grievances through an interactive portal.

The contract supports the Mahashramm initiative, designed to better manage and track services and payments through collaboration with banks for India's unorganized workforce* of 20 million people. The program is unique in size and scale and has been cited by the International Labor Organization (ILO)** as one of the leading best practices in the world.

Accenture will help implement a management framework and technology system to provide services, including registration and filing of applications, by building an online portal and creating a database to provide financial inclusion to unorganized workers using biometric signatures. This phase will be integrated with the Unique Identification Program (UID) of the Government of India.

Biometrics are unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, that can be used for automated recognition. Biometrics is the basis of identification services because they are reliable, convenient and extremely difficult and expensive to forge.

"Accenture is proud to have been selected by the Department of Labor to support such an ambitious and innovative project," said Krishna Giri, managing director for Accenture's Health & Public Service business in India. "We look forward to helping improve the way India's people can access information and interact with their government. We are delighted to partner with the government on its journey toward making Maharashtra a high performing state."

"The Department of Labor is glad to have Accenture to assist it in the implementation of the Labor Management System. This project aims at arriving at a win-win situation both for the employers, in organized and unorganized sectors, as well as employees. We hope for a meaningful association with Accenture, which will herald the delivery of this unprecedented and unique service which, I hope, will create a model of labor laws and decent working conditions for the unorganized and informal labor force not only in the State of Maharashtra, but also in the rest of the world," said Dr. Kavita Gupta, principal secretary of the Government of Maharashtra, Labor Department.

Learn more about Accenture's work delivering Public Service of the Future.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with approximately 236,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US $25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com

* Unorganized labor are workers who don't belong to or are not aligned with formal careers, trades or industries. They are "casual" workers, working less than 6 months a year in total.

**The ILO is an agency of the United Nations.

SOURCE: Accenture
       
        Accenture
        Puja Gupta
        DID +91 98 1888 3851
        Mobile: +91 981 3851
        puja.x.gupta@accenture.com