AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 4430 - Ousted dalit worker of UIDAI fears threat to life

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

Monday, July 29, 2013

4430 - Ousted dalit worker of UIDAI fears threat to life

Ousted dalit worker of UIDAI fears threat to life

Arunav Sinha, TNN | Jul 15, 2013, 04.19 AM IST

LUCKNOW: A former dalit staffer, who was allegedly forced to quit from the Unique Identification Authority of India has expressed threat to his life. The developments come almost two months after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes sought an answer from the Lucknow regional office of the UIDAI on complaints of 'casteism' being practised within its precincts.

In the letter (dated July 8, 2013) addressed to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)-a copy of which is with TOI-former quality control operator Vijay Kumar has expressed threat to his life from Abhishek Mishra, an assistant at the Lucknow regional office of the UIDAI. "Some days back, I had a meeting with one of my former colleagues at UIDAI, who conveyed to me that Abhishek Mishra is gunning for my life. A signed affidavit of the former UIDAI staffer in this regard bears testimony to the fact that my life is in danger from Abhishek Mishra," said Kumar, urging the NCSC to initiate stringent actions against Mishra.

Tarun Khanna, assistant director of NCSC, when contacted by TOI, acknowledged that the NCSC has received a letter from Vijay Kumar, and said, "The commission on its part will take necessary action in this regard."

Prior to this, in a written reply furnished to the commission in June, Kumar had doubted the neutral credentials of the probe and said, "The probe by assistant director general CS Mishra is not free and fair, as he is facing charges too. Both CS Mishra and Abhishek Mishra are extorting statements in their favour from various contractual employees at UIDAI office." He has urged the UID headquarters to constitute a high-powered committee, which would carry out a balanced and neutral probe in this regard.

In his written reply to NCSC, Kumar also pointed that CS Mishra had doubted the credibility of TOI, and termed the news published on May 12 baseless. "By doubting the news report published in TOI, CS Mishra has in fact questioned the genuineness of NCSC," alleged Vijay Kumar. In the probe report submitted to the NCSC on May 21, CS Mishra had stated, "He (Vijay) along with other deputees, whose services have been discontinued, are also trying intentionally to pressurise and defame this reputed organisation through publication of false and baseless allegations through media."

Rubbishing the charges levelled by CS Mishra, the assistant director of NCSC told TOI, "The allegation that the news item is baseless is devoid of any solid foundation and valid reason." Kumar also claimed that the outsourced staff was subjected to step-motherly treatment. "In the UIDAI's answer (dated May 21) to NCSC, CS Mishra had said that there is no employee-employer relationship between UIDAI and the outsourced staff. So, there were no grounds for office memoranda to be issued to us. It is doubtful whether instructions pertaining to us were routed through the agency handling the outsourced work," Vijay said and alleged arbitrary and step-motherly treatment was rampant at the UIDAI's regional office.