Press Trust Of India
New Delhi, January 21, 2012
At a time when Home Ministry and Planning Commission are at loggerheads over carrying out bio-metric collections for the Unique Identification Number project, BJP today demanded that the mandate of the UIDAI's ambitious scheme should not be extended without addressing national security concerns.
However, the party said by raising security concerns over the UID project, it was not siding with P Chidambaram in the ongoing battle between the Home Ministry and the Planning Commission.
"Security concerns are more important than the home minister...we want to know by what time the National Population Register will be ready," party chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters here.
He said the insistence by the Planning Commission to enroll identities beyond its initial mandate of 20 crore to ensure benefit of welfare programmes to the right beneficiary raises "disturbing questions."
"Can the issue of development be divorced from securities issues? Welfare programmes are financed from tax payers' money. Why should it go to those who have got no legal status to stay in India? There are already reports that in many parts of the country including North–East, illegal immigrants have manipulated documents to corner benefits meant for the poor as also voting rights," he said.
Prasad said in this light the turf war between the Planning Commission and the Home Ministry on such a sensitive issue was "very unfortunate."
He said even the Parliamentary Standing committee on Finance had recently criticised the UID Bill that in substance gives statutory status to the UIDAI "which means overlapping with the National Population Register (NPR) which is also engaged in collection of biometric data."
Prasad used the tussle between the MHA and the plan panel to attack the UPA government, saying, "confusion, chaos, differences and turf war have become the defining and disturbing feature of nearly all decisions of the UPA.
"Ministers don't agree, ministries differ and there is also serious disconnect between the Congress and the allies on many policy initiatives. This is the latest in the saga of uncertainty...," he said.
Citing the Citizenship Act, 1995, he said elaborate provisions prescribe as to who is a citizen of India, what is the qualification for the same and who can get registered as a citizen.
"Under section 14 A of the Act, the Central government has to compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue national identity card to him. Under this provision the Central Government is required to maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and issue National Identity Card to him. This is a legal obligation," he said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said the whole concept of National Register of Indian Citizen and establishment of a National Registration Authority for this purpose is of fundamental importance.
"Citizens have rights and also obligations. The most important aspect is the issue of national security when we see massive infiltration from across the border to foment trouble, terror and destabilisation in the country," he said.
Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
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
