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

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

3430 - Aadhaar enrolment set to get a push over next 3 months - The Hindu

Aadhaar enrolment set to get a push over next 3 months

KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN

Officials targeting 70 % of Tamil Nadu population by September

The process of Aadhaar number generation and the bio-metric data enrolment for the National Population Registry (NPR) in the State is set for a push in the three months ahead, as officials hope to reach 70 per cent coverage by September.

At present, the Aadhaar number generation for the state stood pegged at around 30 per cent of the targeted population number in the NPR, the demographic data bank created by the Census Department in 2010. The coverage of the bio-metric enrolment (photograph, iris and fingerprint scan) through the camps currently stood at around 52 per cent mark.

To generate an Aadhaar number, operators certified by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will have to match the demographic data in the NPR with the biometric scans taken at camps by contracted third-party vendors and upload the "packet" to government servers.

The coverage in the districts of Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Karur and Perambalur has been significantly more. This is mainly because two rounds of coverage have been done. However, other districts — Chennai, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Thiruvallur, Sivaganga, Kancheepuram and Nammakal — have poor numbers to show. Chennai so far has had just around four per cent coverage.
In Tiruchi, Pudukottai and Ariyalur, which are expected to feature in the second phase of the rollout of the direct transfer of benefits scheme next month, the coverage is around 70 per cent.

(Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in April, opposed the rollout of the scheme in the districts stating that the scheme was against the spirit of federalism and decentralisation.)

Slow pace
The operations so far have not been as fast as the officials would have liked owing to a number of reasons. There has been a general lack of awareness among the public on the necessity for the Aadhaar numbers.

While the less affluent sections have been more willing to enrol themselves, fearing whether they would miss out on direct benefit of transfers for schemes like subsidised LPG in the future, the more affluent sections have generally been lackadaisical in response. To substantiate their point, the officials contrast the overwhelming reception in labour-dominated parts of Tondiarpet in north Chennai with that of Nungambakkam, where the coverage has been poor despite camps being organised for four months.

Another problem has been a shortage of UIDAI-certified operators. The agencies are unable to find enough qualified persons, who have cleared the UIDAI certification, to be able to access the government servers and generate the Aadhaar numbers.

Joint Director of Directorate of Census Operations (Tamil Nadu) M.R.V.Krishna Rao, said the coverage in Chennai district started only in December last and awareness was picking up. The BME (biometric enumeration) camps were being organised in six of the 15 zones of the city currently and would spread in the weeks to come.

Residents covered under the current drive will receive their 12 digit UID number, either through registered post at their home address or through SMS on their registered mobile phones. The actual Aadhaar cards would be issued later.

No need to despair
The current process of biometric scans and matching of demographic data for Aadhaar number generation was not final, Mr.Rao clarified.

"We are trying to cover every region in two phases. Residents should ideally get their enrolment done in the first phase. However, if they miss out, there would be a second phase of coverage at a later date in the same region. They cannot move to a nearby camp and get enrolled though."

If some residents miss out on both phases of coverage, there are still going to be options. Some time towards the end of this year, the Census Department with the State government is planning to establish fully-equipped permanent NPR centres in all zonal offices of cities and taluk offices of districts. The process of enrolment for Aadhaar is going to be an ongoing process.
Keywords: Aadhaar enrolment, National Population Registry, Aadhaar number, UIDAI certification, Census Department


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