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

Sunday, September 29, 2013

4663 - Supreme Court shock for UPA’s Aadhaar-linked cash transfers - Live Mint


Top court says Aadhaar can’t be mandatory for availing benefits; interim order may foil UPA’s poll trump card

First Published: Mon, Sep 23 2013. 09 36 PM IST

The Aadhaar scheme was designed to provide every resident in India with a unique identity number. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/ Mint

Updated: Tue, Sep 24 2013. 02 17 PM IST
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, in an interim order, said the government cannot make Aadhaar numbers mandatory for availing the benefits of government services and subsidies, including the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for cooking gas.

The move could potentially crimp the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) plans to use the direct transfer of benefits as a talking point in the upcoming general election; it had even coined a catchy slogan to do so—Apkaa paisa aapke haath (your money in your hands).

Launched on 1 January, the direct benefits transfer programme has expanded to 28 schemes in 121 districts.

The court has also restrained the government from issuing Aadhaar numbers to illegal immigrants. The Aadhaar scheme was designed to provide every resident in India with a unique identity number and did not distinguish between citizens and non-citizens.

The interim order was passed by a two-judge bench, headed by justice B.S. Chauhan, that was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the issuance of Aadhaar numbers on grounds of invasion of privacy and right to life, according to advocate Anish Kumar Gupta who is representing the petitioners— former Karnataka high court judge K. S. Puttuswamy and advocate Parvesh Khanna.

Mint has not reviewed a copy of the interim order.

“The court says that Aadhaar can’t be made mandatory for providing services, (and) this is so far the government’s stand as well. Aadhaar can’t be a criteria for excluding people when it comes to services such as registration or protection. This may not hold for subsidies,” said a senior government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. This person added that he is yet to see and understand the complete order.


News agency Press Trust of India reported that the Union government told the Supreme Court that securing Aadhaar numbers was optional and it had not made it mandatory for citizens.

A senior official at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said, “One can only comment when we have seen the order, but in general terms, the UIDAI is in agreement that the enrolment for Aadhaar is voluntary and its application should be accompanied with robust exception management which has been the government’s stand as well.”

Exception management refers to providing services or benefits through alternative systems for those who do not have Aadhaar numbers.

“The court said that possession of Aadhaar numbers is not compulsory for availing government-sponsored beneficial schemes and services. The bench issued a set of interim directions today and the matter will come up for hearing at a later date. These orders will operate till a final decision is arrived at by the court,” said Gupta.

The Aadhaar or Unique Identity Number, issued by the UIDAI under the aegis of the Planning Commission, is a 12-digit identification number which serves as proof of identity and address anywhere in India.

The apex court also heard a batch of pleas against decisions of some states to make Aadhaar numbers compulsory for a range of activities including salary, provident fund disbursals and marriage and property registration.

The Aadhaar-based DBT scheme aimed at transfer of welfare payments to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, with the unique identity number acting as the link between the government department’s beneficiary database and the beneficiary’s bank account.

However, official review meetings of DBT have found that linking of beneficiaries’ bank accounts to their Aadhaar numbers has been a drag on its faster implementation.

While S. Sundareshan, mission director for DBT, declined comment, stating he was not authorized to speak on Aadhaar, a petroleum ministry official requesting anonymity said: “If there will be some problem, it will be taken up at the appropriate level for relief.” This person added that it was impossible to target cooking gas subsidies without Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.

Despite the call for fresh legislation supporting the issuance of Aadhaar numbers from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in consecutive reports since December 2011—the latest one was tabled in April—the government has not created an enabling law. Instead, it has proceeded to link it in phases with transfer of welfare payments such as cooking gas, scholarships and pensions.

The finance ministry said in Parliament on 16 August that only 9.62% of beneficiary accounts for schemes under the programme, other than cooking gas subsidy, were linked to Aadhaar. The figure was about 50% for liquified petroleum gas subsidy transfer, much behind Aadhaar coverage of about 75% in the 20 districts where the targeted cooking gas scheme began on 1 June.

Utpal Bhaskar contributed to this story.