AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 2469 - Unreliable Aadhar data to be used for Food Bill

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

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

2469 - Unreliable Aadhar data to be used for Food Bill - Sunday Guardian

Unreliable Aadhar data to be used for Food Bill

SAGNIK DUTTA New Delhi | 18Th Mar

While the government is banking heavily on the Aadhar data supplied by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the implementation of the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) and better targeting of fertiliser subsidies, the reliability of the data is in itself in question.

A customer pushes a shopping trolley down an aisle at a retail supermarket in Mumbai on Friday. ‘It is unlikely that UIDAI will improve the efficiency of the government’s welfare schemes this year.’ REUTERS

In fact, a Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on Finance had questioned the legality of the collection of biometrics for creating a citizen database in December 2011. Also, the process of creation of a citizens' database was outsourced to a third party with no means of adequate monitoring of their activities. The Union Finance Minister seems to have placed immense faith in this one-technology driven initiative to deliver many ambitious fiscal targets. But most of the UID-based delivery schemes will be pilot projects to be rolled out in a few chosen districts. It is unlikely that they will improve the efficiency and accuracy of the government's gargantuan welfare schemes this year.

Pranab Mukherjee, in his Budget speech, said, "To ensure that the objectives of the National Food Security Bill are effectively realised, a Public Distribution System using the Aadhar platform is being created." The Finance Minister also mentioned, "The recommendations of the task force headed by Nandan Nilekani on IT strategy for direct transfer of subsidy have been accepted."

Speaking to this newspaper, Anupam Saraf, a former Governance Advisor to the Government of Goa and an independent leadership, strategy and innovation mentor, said, "The process of registering individuals under Aadhar was assigned to third parties. There is no way to ensure that the third parties will not register non-existent individuals. This leaves a lot of room for massive scams, corruption and leakages if the data is used for distribution of subsidies. Thus the proposed Food Security Bill and targeting of fertilizer subsidies will be based on data which is not reliable. Instead of better targeting of subsidies, it will only lead to more leakages."

Saraf added, "A population register is already maintained by the Registrar General of India at present. The registration of citizens and the issuing of national identity cards are already provided for under the Citizenship Act 1955. This population register could have been used as a database for targeting subsidies instead of the Aadhar data."

"Also, there has been no audit of the UID project by an independent authority. The CAG should audit the entire process of creation of a people's database," Saraf said.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in December 2011 had said, "The collection of biometric information and its linkage with personal information without amendment to the Citizenship Act 1955 as well as the Citizenship (registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards Rules 2003, appears to be beyond the scope of subordinate legislation, which needs to be examined in detail by the Parliament."