AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 4773 - UIDAI to move Supreme Court shortly to shield Aadhaar: Montek

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, October 7, 2013

4773 - UIDAI to move Supreme Court shortly to shield Aadhaar: Montek - TNN

UIDAI to move Supreme Court shortly to shield Aadhaar: Montek

Mahendra Singh & Surojit Gupta, TNN Oct 6, 2013, 06.04AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will move the Supreme Court to explain its position related to the Aadhaar scheme and also make a bid to save the UPA's showpiece initiative which aims at ensuring transparency in accessing public services and payment of subsidies.

"We will respond to the issues that have been raised with regard to Aadhaar," said Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. He also said that UIDAI will detail its position on the Aadhaar system to the apex court in an affidavit to be filed shortly. 'There is nothing wrong with the Aadhaar arrangement," Ahluwalia said, adding that the key issue is whether it should be mandatory.

Last month the SC ruled that Aadhaar can only be issued to those with proven Indian nationality and cannot be mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies.

Ahluwalia, one of the architects of the Aadhaar programme, said significant work has been done to roll out the scheme which is one of the biggest in the world.

He said that the Aadhaar system was the best way to ensure that there are no leakages in the mechanism and this was "most effective manner" to ensure that benefits reach the targeted population. He also said the scheme will shut out duplication and ensure that nobody garners benefits many times over. Ahluwalia indicated that making it mandatory to avail government entitlements will end duplication and curb leakages.

Asked whether the National Population Register (NPR) and Aadhaar enrolment had led to confusion on the ground, he said both schemes were mutually supportive activities and had defined roles and objectives.

"I don't think there is any confusion. Around 400 million people have been enrolled," Ahlulwalia said while defending the record of the UIDAI.

The government is worried as enacting a legislation to provide statutory status to UIDAI may take time which may delay rollout of its direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme, which is touted as UPA's game-changer for the 2014 general elections. UIDAI has no legal backing and the legislation will enable it to acquire a statutory status.

The bill is expected to be moved in the winter session of Parliament. Officials have stressed that the SC order has not barred the UIDAI from enrolling people and the process is on.

UIDAI's purview is limited to the issue of unique identification numbers (Aadhaar) linked to a person's demographic and biometric information. Aadhaar will only guarantee identity, not rights, benefits or entitlements, according to the official website.

The government is keen to roll out the direct benefit of transfer scheme to plug loopholes in its subsidy delivery mechanism. The move is aimed at ensuring that the money is transferred directly to a beneficiary's bank account.