AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2013- Chidambaram raises concerns about UID, says sources Sudhi Ranjan Sen,

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

Sunday, November 27, 2011

2013- Chidambaram raises concerns about UID, says sources Sudhi Ranjan Sen,

Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Updated: November 25, 2011 23:01 IST

New Delhi: Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram has raised an alarm over the manner and processes followed by Nandan Nilekani's Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which issues Aadhaar cards, partly for security reasons, and because Mr Nilekani's plans to collect bio-metric data have not been formally approved by the Cabinet. The entire project costs about Rs. 17,000 crore.

Mr Chidambaram has, in letter dated November 11, 2011 to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, rebutted the plan proposed by Mr Nilekani.

The Home Minister has made clear his discomfort at the fact that Mr Nilekani's project has no Cabinet clearance and could, therefore, be questioned at a later date. Sources tell NDTV that in a meeting held on September 5, the Home Minister also made his apprehension clear.

Mr Nilekani was initially authorised to enumerate a population of 120 crore - as pilot a project to work out the de-duplication of enumeration. However, without any Cabinet clearance, UIDAI was allowed to enumerate another 10 crore of population.

Now, Mr Nilekani wants to take over the entire process with the Home Ministry and the Register General of India - only authority empowered by the law to enumerate and store data on the population - to play second fiddle, that too, without any Cabinet clearance - a clear indication of the clout that Nandan Nilekani carries with the PM who was also instrumental in inviting Mr Nilekani to join the Cabinet.

It is with this uneasiness that the Home Minister has asked the Prime Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission to bring the issue before the Cabinet and decide who should be made responsible for collection of bio-metric data. He has also told the Prime Minister that not only efforts are being duplicated, but states are confused as to which scheme - Home Ministry's National Population Register or Aadhaar - they should follow.

In his letter, Mr Chidambaram has said that he is concerned about the sanctity of the database which is the basis for India to check illegal migration and keep track of its citizens.

The Home Minister has also made it clear that anyone - the Register General of India under Home Ministry or UIDAI could enumerate and collect the bio-metric data - but it requires a clearance from the Cabinet. The Home Minister's plea for a Cabinet nod, perhaps, indicates his newly acquired distaste for courting controversy following the controversy over the 2G scam.

What has perhaps created a bigger security scare is the fact that Aadhaar has been issued to more people in several blocks across the country than counted by Census.

For example, at Amberpet in Hyderabad, the Census counted 15,000 people whereas Aadhaar enumerated over 21,000 people, showing an increase of 140 per cent. Similarly, in Secunderabad, the Census after going from house to house found about 13000 people whereas Aadhaar enumerated over 37000 people - a rise of 280 per cent.

It is not only security that is bothering the Home Minister but also the fact that under the law only the Home Ministry is authorised to enumerate and maintain records.

Today, following Mr Chidambaram's letter, Principal Secretray to PM Pulok Chatterji met Union Home Secretary R K Singh and Registrar General of India (RGI) C Chandramouli.

There was no response from Mr Nandan Nilekani on the Home Minister's letter despite repeated attempts.