AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2389 - Aadhaar brings pension home - Ramgarh village first off the block with micro ATMs

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

Saturday, February 18, 2012

2389 - Aadhaar brings pension home - Ramgarh village first off the block with micro ATMs - THE TELEGRAPH

Friday , February 10 , 2012

SANTOSH K. KIRO

UIDAI director-general RS Sharma hands over scholarship money to Bindu Kumari, a student of Utkramit Uchch Vidyalaya, Gandke, after she operated her Aadhaar-generated bank account using a handheld ATM at Dohakatu village on Thursday. Several senior citizens (inset) used their thumb impressions to withdraw money from their pension accounts, too. Pictures by Prashant Mitra

Dohakatu (Ramgarh), Feb. 9: For a change, Mangal Bedia did not board a crammed bus today and travel 15km to withdraw his old-age pension from a bank.

The 70-year-old from Dohakatu village in Ramgarh district, along with 100-odd fellow elders, became the first citizens to access old-age pension by using their Aadhaar numbers with handheld ATMs on the doorstep.

The banking service reached their village, thanks to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Until today, these men and women used to queue up outside the Bank of India branch in Ramgarh.

Bedia was delighted. “Abhi bahut aram hai. Paisa nikalne ke liye hum ko bhid wali bus mein nahi jana padega (It’s all very comfortable now. I do not have to travel in crowded buses to go to withdraw my money).”

He withdrew Rs 300 out of his monthly pension of Rs 400, deposited by the government in his Aadhaar-enabled bank account at the Ramgarh branch of Bank of India.

Director-general of UIDAI Ram Sevak Sharma, accompanied by senior officials and Ramgarh deputy commissioner Amitabh Kaushal, launched the technology-enabled disbursal that also included scholarships for Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) students — another first for Dohakatu and the nation.

UIDAI, which is carrying forward its Aadhaar authentication services by testing its utility for welfare and social security schemes, had successfully conducted a trial of Aadhaar-enabled payments to MGNREGS workers with the help of micro ATMs in a number of villages in Jharkhand last month.

Under the system, financial institutions select banking correspondents in the villages and equip them with micro ATMs and a certain amount of cash. The Aadhaar-enabled account holders approach the correspondent and press their thumbs, which work like passwords, on the ATM to authenticate their account numbers.

The ATM then displays the balance in his or her account to the beneficiary before allowing withdrawal of money. The correspondents go around villages, carrying the micro ATM to extend banking services to the residents.

“I withdrew Rs 400 out of my scholarship of Rs 660 from my bank account by using my Aadhaar number. I want to buy notebooks and school uniform,” said Nisha Kumari, a Class IX student of Utkramit Uchch Vidyalaya in Gandke near Dohakatu.

Nearly 70 other boys and girls from her school also withdrew cash.

Located about 25km from Ranchi, Dohakatu has a population of about 7,000, mostly tribals. Mukhiya Kalawati Devi (36) said many middlemen in her village were active and hence cash benefits of the government did not fully reach the beneficiaries, which the Aadhaar-enabled system would resolve.

UIDAI director-general Sharma said the new system of cash transfer would bring in a lot more transparency in transactions between the government and the people.

“Banks which have opened branches have extended banking services to only 5 per cent of the villages in the country. In such a situation, Aadhaar-enabled services through micro ATMs will bring about a revolution in banking services, which will ensure transparency in financial transactions,” he said.