AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2124 - Aadhaar's national goals hinge on tech pilot success in Mysore, Hyderabad, Pune

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, December 20, 2011

2124 - Aadhaar's national goals hinge on tech pilot success in Mysore, Hyderabad, Pune - Economic Times

20 Dec, 2011, 06.55AM IST,
Jayadevan PKJayadevan PK, ET Bureau

BANGALORE: A fight is about to break out across the street from Krishnarajendranagar Police Station in Mysore as two middle-aged men try to force their way into a gas agency manned by a few uniformed delivery men. One of them yelled: "This is stupid! Let me talk to the owner." The air is tense and the heat is not helping things either.

The gulf between drawing-board plans and ground realities of a nation fighting for technological advances is posing new challenges, evident from the daily chaos at Mysore's Venus Gas Agency. Here, oil marketing companies are trying to tweak the existing distribution system using a first-of-its kind technology pilot based on the identity database project, Aadhaar.

The success of the pilot is critical for financial inclusion, targeted public distribution and direct cash subsidy transfer by linking it with Aadhaar, issues that have been championed by the Centre.

THE WORKS

Through this pilot, state-owned oil marketing firms like IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum -- which sell cooking gas to consumers through distributors -- want to weed out multiple gas connections with a single user with the help of deliveries linked to Aadhaar.

The second and more important part involves testing how direct cash transfers can be implemented, again using Aadhaar.

The project will be in full swing in Mysore, Hyderabad and Pune in less than a week despite a Parliamentary panel suggesting that the UIDAI Act be revised. But teething troubles, angry customers among them, are many.

For instance, CR Nagendra, 40, and his friend Sugendra, 52, have been told by the agency they can't take their LPG refill booking unless they provide relevant documents. "But we have given all documents twice. Why are you making us do this again?" Nagendra asked Subba Singh, a delivery boy with the gas agency, which has 26,000 customers.

As Singh and his colleagues try to pacify the crowd, inside the building, owner N Madhava, an 87-yearold army veteran is vexed too. "I've never had such problems running the agency," said Madhava who believes that the project, if successful, will be a great help to the distributors.

To start with, over 11,000 consumers have to fill up a form which asks for your Aadhaar number, bank account details and personal details. Aadhaar numbers have to be verified before building a database and eliminating fake connections. At the time of delivery, staff trained to use a mobile point-of-sale device needs the consumer to authenticate the purchase using their thumb impression.

After the sale is authenticated, the transaction is closed and a record is maintained by the oil marketing company. "This will make sure that the connection reaches the right person," said KK Sharma, assistant director-general, UIDAI, the agency responsible for Aadhaar rollout.

To test cash subsidy transfer, the consumer will be asked to pay the unsubsidised cost of the cylinder upfront. After the consumer authenticates the purchase, based on the data sent to oil marketing firms, the subsidy will be deposited in the consumer's Aadhaar-linked bank account. "The project will help us streamline the process," says Madhava whose agency has been putting "pressure" on delivery boys to plug leakage and theft.