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, April 21, 2012

2528 - Aadhaar Governance Award (AGA)



http://uidai.gov.in/images/FrontPageUpdates/aadhaar_governance_award_11mar2011.pdf

Aadhaar Governance Award (AGA)

Preamble

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is mandated to issue unique numbers (Aadhaar numbers) to every resident in the country. The UIDAI has begun issuing Aadhaar numbers in partnership with a large number of Registrars across the country. The implementation of the project has gained momentum across the country and a large number of residents will be obtaining the Aadhaar number in the coming months.

One of the mandates of the UIDAI is to define the usage and applicability of the Aadhaar number for delivery of various services. The Aadhaar number which is based on biometrics and can be authenticated has the potential to be utilized in a variety of social sector schemes in education, health, PDS, social welfare not only for improving delivery of service to the intended beneficiary but also to make the administration of the scheme more transparent and efficient.

It is in the context of the potential of the use of the Aadhaar number that the UIDAI is instituting the Aadhaar Governance Award (AGA).

Objective of the Aadhaar Governance Award (AGA)

The Aadhaar Governance Award (AGA) is to acknowledge, recognize and reward the extraordinary and innovative work done by District Collectors in using the Aadhaar number to improve service delivery in their respective districts for more transparent, efficient and effective governance. The UIDAI believes that a number of innovative and exemplary usages of the Aadhaar number would be generated from the officials working at the cutting edge of administration.

Criteria for selection

All District Collectors of the country are eligible to apply as per the process

detailed in the sections below. The main criteria, inter alia, for selection will be as follows:

1. The Aadhaar number should be used in an innovative way to improve delivery of a service or in making the implementation of a particular scheme/service more transparent/efficient. Essentially, the Aadhaar identity infrastructure platform must be utilized in the application that seeks to improve service delivery.

2. The project for which the award is sought must be implemented for a period of at least 6 months. It should not be only a proposal or idea.

3. The project must be scalable, sustainable and capable of being horizontally transferred to other sectors.

4. It should result in enhancement of productivity, improvement in accountability, efficiency and service delivery, ease of transaction and end user convenience.

5. It should offer permanent improvements to the service delivery mechanism.

How to Apply

The UIDAI will receive nominations from districts through the Unique Identification Implementation Committee (UIDIC) headed by the Chief Secretary which has been constituted in the States.

District Collectors who have done work in implementing the Aadhaar number in improving service delivery would have to document their work in the form of a project report and submit it to the UIDIC. The project report must contain details of the pre-Aadhaar and post-Aadhaar delivery mechanism. It must outline the salient features of the improvement and the intended benefits. The project report must contain details, inter alia, of the project’s coverage, scope of work, user convenience, efficiency enhancement, improvement in accountability and transparency, innovative aspects and cost effectiveness. The proposals could also be accompanied by video/pictures of the process improvements.

The UIDIC would nominate District Collectors and send their proposals to the UIDAI for selection for the award. There is no limit on the number of proposals that can be sent by the UIDIC to the UIDAI. However, there will only be one nomination from each district.

Process for Selection

The UIDAI would set up an Expert Evaluation Committee comprising of eminent people, inter alia, in the field of public administration, academics, technology to evaluate the proposals that have been received by the UIDAI. The shortlisted nominees would have to make detailed presentations of their

work. The evaluation could also involve field visits to see the implementation of the work. The Expert Evaluation Committee would give its recommendations to the UIDAI.

Time frame

The nominations from the UIDIC to the UIDAI must be received by the 15th of January, 2012. The Award will be announced by the UIDAI in February 2012. The Award ceremony will be held in February/March 2012.

Details of the Award

The AGA is an annual award. The winning nomination will receive a cash prize of Rs.3 lakhs, followed by Rs.2 lakhs for the second place and Rs.1 lakh for the third place. The cash received from the award will go directly to the respective District Collector’s office.

The District Collectors would be given a medal and citation for the honour.
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