AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 4389 - Andhra Pradesh role model for country in 'Aadhaar': Nandan Nilekani

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, July 9, 2013

4389 - Andhra Pradesh role model for country in 'Aadhaar': Nandan Nilekani - India Education Diary

Andhra Pradesh role model for country in 'Aadhaar': Nandan Nilekani
Friday, July 05, 2013

Report by India Education bureau, Hyderabad: The Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, (UIDAI), Mr Nandan Nilekani said that in the next 3 to 6 months entire Andhra Pradesh will be covered by Aadhaar by enrolling every person in the State. He said that A.P. will be the first State in the country to be fully enrolled by Aadhaar.

The Chief Minister Mr N Kiran Kumar Reddy today held a detailed review meeting at Secretariat with Mr Nilakani, other UIDAI officials, Ministers and higher officials. The Chief Minister agreed to work in close coordination with the UIDAI to achieve cent per cent enrolment and see that every benefit of all the welfare schemes reach the genuine beneficiary through the Aadhaar cards. Ministers Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, D Sridhar Babu, Pithani Satyanarayana, D. Manikya Varaprasad, Chief Secretary Dr P.K.Mohanty, Director General, UIDAI, Madan, Principal Secretary, Finance and State DBT Nodal Officer Dr. P.V.Ramesh, Principal Secretaries, S.P. Tucker, V.Bhasker, Raymond Peter, R.Subramaniam, Secretary, IT, Sanjay Jaju and other officials attended the meeting. Mr. Nilekani said that no other State in the country has done the Aadhar Enrolment and link-up in such a holistic way as Andhra Pradesh.

He said A.P. is a role model for other States in this regard. Mr Nilekani lauded the State for the achievement and said that a presentation in this regard will be made in New Delhi for the guidance of other States. The Chief Minister said that when Aadhar is linked up to delivery of all the welfare schemes in the State, it will ensure that all the eligible people will get the benefits which will enhance the credibility of the Government since there will be a feel good factor among the people. He said that the State Government provides various benefits to 8.5 cr people worth about Rs.28,000 crs. Mr Nilekani called for special focus on the residual enrolment which needs a targetted approach. He said a map should be prepared pin-code wise of the low connectivity and low enrolment areas, particularly the tribal areas. Officials informed that by 1st July 2013, about 8.14 crore citizens of the total population of 8.46 crores (2011 census) have enrolled themselves for Aadhaar. This is an impressive 96% of the total population and about 23% of the total Aadhaar enrolment across the country. Of these 6.30 crore citizens of the State have been issued Unique Identification Number (UID) by 1st July 2013.

This entails that about three fourths (74%) of all AP citizens have Aadhaar as on 1 July 2013. In the five phase-I DBT districts, 95% of the population have been provided with Aadhaar. In eight Phase-II DBT districts, the Aadhaar provided population is around 72%. Currently, nearly 4,000 enrolment centres are functioning across the State. If the current pace is sustained, all citizens of AP will have Aadhaar latest by 31st December 2013, the first State in the country to achieve this distinction. The current enrolment trends indicate that average enrolment across the state is around 7.10 lakh per week, which translates to around 4,400 per district per day or around 25 per station per day. At the current rate, it would require 114 working days (around 4 to 5 months) to enroll the remaining 1.16 crore people (12 lakh un-enrolled; 72.62 lakh rejects; 32 lakh children born since 2011 census). Since a majority of those not enrolled include people living in remote and interior areas and the migrant population, it would require concerted efforts to get them enrolled. Direct Benefit Scheme was launched in five districts of AP - Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, East Godavari, Chittoor and Ananthapur - on 1 January 2013.

Initially this was limited to Scholarships being administered by the Central Ministries of Social Justice and Empowerment, Minority Welfare, Human Resources Development, and Tribal Welfare, in addition to Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and their counterpart State departments. The LPG has been brought under DBT sphere on 1st June 2013. In addition, the pensions under the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) have since been included. GoI has introduced DBT to LPG consumers from 1st June, 2013 in the five pilot districts. Under the scheme all LPG consumers who have linked their Aadhaar numbers with dealers and bank accounts will get an advance of Rs.435 on booking the first cylinder on or after 1st June, 2013. As soon as the cylinder is delivered to such consumers, subsidy eligible on the date of delivery will again get credited in their bank accounts. This will reduce the burden to consumers as they will be required to pay the market price of around Rs.900 per cylinder.

All those consumers who have not linked their Aadhaar with both the dealer and the bank accounts will continue to get LPG at the current subsidised price for a period of three months till 31st August, 2013. The State Government has included all twelve (12) scholarship schemes administered by the Department of Social Welfare, Tribal Welfare, BC Welfare and Minority Welfare in the DBT scheme, in addition to the ten Central Sector Scholarship schemes of the GoI. The state government provides around 27 lakh scholarships annually. The process is currently being undertaken in all districts to enrol new student scholarship beneficiaries and renew the scholarships of those who are continuing in the stream of education. The scholarship database is being managed through E-pass system, a robust programme developed by the AP government.

An interface will be established in due course between E-pass and the CPSMS. The government proposes to transfer all scholarships in the Phase-I districts through Aadhaar Payment Bridge from 1 August 2013 for all students with Aadhaar seeded in the database and the bank accounts. A complete transition to Aadhaar will be effected by 1st October 2013 if no glitches are noticed. The Government of India has extended DBT Scheme to seventy eight (78) additional districts in the country from 1st July 2013. In Andhra Pradesh, eight districts are selected, which include: Srikakulam, Krishna, Guntur, Adilabad, Kadapa, Vizianagaram, Kurnool and Nalgonda. In addition to the 26 schemes covered earlier, three pension schemes (old age, widow disability) are also proposed to be brought under DBT from July 1, 2013.