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 21, 2011

1997 - Aadhaar lacks publicity, awareness - Tamil Pakkam

November 07, 2011, 09:52:38 am »

Where does one go for availing of the Central Government's Aadhaar identity card is what Coimbatore residents want to know. For, most are not aware of the addresses where the enrolment centres function in the city.

The residents asked the question not after the project was first launched or when the District Collector M. Karunakaran launched the project in the district on September 15 this year but only after they read the Union Petroleum Ministry announcement in newspapers that the Aadhaar card was a necessary document to avail of LPG refills.

An officer associated with the Unique Identification Authority of India project admits to the failure to publicise the addresses. One of the reasons, he cites for the poor response, is the lack of suitable places within the city limits. 

Only if the service providers have a suitable place will they be in a position to advertise the venue and the service offered. This has been the handicap. The service providers even tried hiring wedding halls but they could not get it for long periods because of wedding and other bookings.

To overcome the problem, the service providers have approached the Coimbatore Corporation, School Education Department and private education institutions for space.

Even as the service providers are grappling for space, they are now concentrating in rural parts of the district. In the coming days, they will take the help of school heads and village-level officers.

At present, the service providers are in about 50 places in the district. They will add another 40 in the coming days. And there will be more service providers too. India Post has joined the latest list of service providers.

It will launch its service for issue of Aadhaar card on November 21 at the Coimbatore Head Post Office and then extend the service to other post offices in the district. It has also made available online the enrolment form on www.tamilnadupost.nic.in.

Secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause K. Kathirmathiyon urged the district officials to increase the number of enrolment centres and the facilities therein as early as possible, as the public have now started making a beeline to these centres fearing disruption of LPG supply. City needs to have more enrolment centres and moreover they need to be publicised well. In addition, the publicity for the same should include the locations and also the procedures involved besides the documents required. Many applicants were being turned down for want of documents, resulting in poor compliance, despite the willingness. 

Some of the centres in the city have limitations in terms of turning down the applications because of capacity constraints in handling more than 100 or 250 applicants a day. 

In addition, Mr. Kathirmathiyon welcomed the decision to make Aadhaar or UID mandatory for availing of LPG services, as it would help eliminate bogus beneficiaries and misuse of subsidy. He found fault with the timing of the decision to make it mandatory. UID or the Aadhaar initiative has just begun and has not been completed. Government should increase the number of enrolment centres and make the process public- friendly. 

If the public failed to enrol and comply with the initiative, then making it mandatory after a six to eight month period i.e., after June 2012 is understandable. Without taking the scheme to the people, making it mandatory will have counter-productive results and lead to the very collapse of the initiative, he cautioned.

The State Government/District Administration should be involved in the process, so that the enrolment process could be taken closer to people and the desired results could be achieved, say officials.