AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 3027 - Aadhaar gives hard time to postman

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, February 13, 2013

3027 - Aadhaar gives hard time to postman

Aadhaar gives hard time to postman

By Express News Service - HYDERABAD

12th February 2013 07:51 AM

One might think that in this era of emails and video chats, a postman does not have any work. But, ironically, he has been overburdened with it in the city so much so that he has been working without offs for the last one year! Well, not all postmen but a good many and all that they get in return is an incentive. Wondering why so much work for this age-old community friend? It’s the Aadhaar frenzy which doesn’t seem to leave anyone in peace.

There are about 1,100 postmen in about 100 post-offices in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts. They are being flooded with Aadhaar cards due for delivery. On an average, every year, a humble post-office handles about 6,000 articles excluding ordinary post. Now, the post-offices are expected to deliver around 55,000 Aadhaar cards every month! “By delivering about 200 articles a day for six days... in four weeks, I will be able to deliver 4,800 cards a month. What is the number of cards to be dispatched?” asked one postman who preferred to remain anonymous.

According to the AP circle of India Post, around 61,689 cards from Phase-1 out of the total 89,84,000 enrolments from Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts are yet to be delivered. “Aadhaar is additional work. And postmen have been putting in a lot of effort to deliver the cards,” said K Sandhya Rani, postmaster general (business development, technology and marketing), adding, “the public and institutions need to be realistic in their approach. Delivery of Aadhaar is not like election duty. It is like a never-ending work.”

However, she downplayed the need for more manpower. In the wake of rising complaints, the department has hired temporary staff, not just for the delivery but also for uploading data after delivery. Grameen Dak Sevak staff are working as mail carriers, delivery agents and postmasters in the absence of regular staff whereas additional incentives are being given for those who work on Sundays.

Defending India Post against accusations of late delivery of Aadhaar cards, she explained, “The delay is also due to delay in generation of cards by UIDAI. If the date of enrolment and date of generation of the cards are checked, very less would have happened within the timeline of 30 days. There has been a time lag.” According to her, in Phase-1 of Aadhaar in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts, the Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) has been able to generate only 88% cards out of the total enrolments. And about 99% of the generated cards were booked (handed over to post-offices). India Post has delivered 99.2% of those handed over to them.

Among major challenges postmen face is wrong pin codes on addresses. “A place like Basheerbagh is served by four post-offices. In slum areas, it is difficult to identify an address due to lack of proper house numbers etc,” she pointed out. “We are investigating each and every case. I assure you that the highest level of reviews happen in case of Aadhaar. Our inspectors make regular visits to post-offices and check on issues. We have even suspended some staff for delaying the delivery of Aadhaar cards,” said the postmaster general.

The deputy postmaster in Secunderabad H.P.O, Srinivasa Rao, also echoed the same views. “There is a huge amount of traffic involved in Aaadhar Card distribution. Over and above our normal postal duties, we got this responsibility. We handle sorting and dispatch of the cards and are faced with manpower and logistic issues, “ he said.

“For example, in one local post-office in Sitaphalmandi, in just two weeks, thousands of Aaadhar cards arrived for distribution by the postman there!” he revealed, adding, “We are taking steps to deal with this traffic. We have arranged for dispatch work on Sundays and holidays also and we are engaging additional help in the form of workers on a daily-wage basis to meet the demand.”

Asked about people experiencing delays of up to a year in receiving their cards, he replied, “I think a maximum delay of one or two months can be there in dispatch by us, not more than that.” He also said that some are coming to post-offices complaining that they Express News Service.