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

Thursday, April 4, 2013

3205 - National Food Security Bill to lead to massive PDS reforms, says KV Thomas



National Food Security Bill to lead to massive PDS reforms, says KV Thomas
By Sutanuka Ghosal, ET Bureau | 3 Apr, 2013, 07.06PM IST


National Food Security Bill to lead to massive PDS reforms, says KV Thomas

ET SPECIAL:

KOLKATA: Aiming to provide food security to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population along with a special focus on nutritional needs of children, pregnant and lactating women, the National Food Security Bill will lead to massive PDS reforms including doorstep delivery of food grains, end-to-end computerisation, leveraging "aadhaar", etc. 

This was stated by Prof. K.V. Thomas, minister of state for consumer affairs, food and public distribution while addressing the special session on "India's food security and the second green revolution" at CII's annual general Meeting & National Conference on Wednesday. 

Expressing hope that the National Food Security Bill will be passed by Parliament in the coming second part of the Budget Session, Prof. Thomas said that a large part of the debate on Indian agriculture concentrates around food security concerns of the people of the country and the day is not far off, when India will be known the world over for taking this important step towards ensuring food security to the masses. 

Speaking further on the challenges of food security the minister highlighted the achievements of the agricultural sector in achieving record production of grains and horticulture produce and further said that "in order to be able to ensure food security in a sustained manner, it is necessary to maintain the growth momentum in food grains productions by ensuring 'ever-green revolution" in the country. This requires harnessing the ample natural resources of eastern region of the country". 

Highlighting the need for income security and more equitable distribution of income in rural areas, Mr Ashish Bahuguna, secretary, department of agriculture & cooperation, stressed on the need creating greater nonfarm employment opportunities in the rural areas. He further remarked that the key challenges that continue to threaten sustainable growth of agriculture can be adequately addressed through effective public private partnerships. 

Speaking on the food security bill Dr Ashok Gulati, chairman, Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices said that the leakages in the PDS is one of the biggest challenge in the food distribution system and need to be addressed. He also stressed on the need for rethinking on MSP. 

Mr Ajay Jakhar, Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj called for reforms in the agriculture sector to improve rural economy. Highlighting the need for agricultural diversification Mr Jakhar stressed on the need for reforms in the government policies in areas of research, extension and marketing which are crucial for enabling diversification.

He also suggested the need for creating a national food security advisor for effective coordination among multiple ministries, departments and institutions governing agriculture.Moderating the session Mr Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chairman, CII National Council on Agriculture recommended reforms in agriculture such as delisting of perishables from APMC and long term leasing of land. 

According to the speakers small land holdings, poor marketing infrastructure and late introduction of technology were the main roadblocks, which according to them were not allowing farmers to grow economically. The speakers supported more effective public private partnership to address the current challenges and scale operations in agriculture
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