AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 4919 - Fresh roadblock for Aadhaar

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

Thursday, November 14, 2013

4919 - Fresh roadblock for Aadhaar - TNN

Fresh roadblock for Aadhaar

Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN Nov 5, 2013, 01.35AM IST

KOLKATA: Get set for a fresh round of confusion if you still haven't got your Aadhaar. The decision to set up enrolment camps at LPG distribution centres in Kolkata, Howrah and Cooch Behar has been put on hold after chief minister Mamata Banerjee's call for a "rethink" on the direct-benefit-transfer for LPG scheme.

The decision to set up Aadhaar enrolment camps at LPG distribution centres in Kolkata, Howrah and Cooch Behar has been put on hold now that chief minister Mamata Banerjee has called for a rethink on the direct-benefit-transfer (DBT) for LPG scheme.

On Friday, the chief minister had said Aadhaar must not be made compulsory for receiving LPG gas subsidy. More than a month back, the Supreme Court had dealt a crippling blow to the UPA's showpiece project by ruling that it could only be issued to those with proven Indian nationality and cannot be made mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies.

The problem is, the petroleum ministry is determined to go ahead with the scheme, leaving lakhs of consumers in the lurch. The ministry insists on making the current system of subsidized gas cylinders valid for non-Aadhaar-linked consumers only for the next three months.

Under the circumstances, the only ray of hope for the lakhs in Bengal who haven't yet got the Aadhaar is the next Supreme Court hearing on November 12.

On September 18, at the first-ever comprehensive meeting at Writers' Buildings on linking the Aadhaar number to the LPG subsidy, all stakeholders had agreed to set up enrolment camps at 46 LPG distribution centres in the three Bengal districts where the scheme was due to be launched from November 1. Only 68% of Kolkata residents are Aadhaar-registered and, according to data available with the oil companies, there are over 12 lakh LPG consumers in the city.

But now, the registrar general of India and the census directorate have referred Mamata's stance to the ministry of home affairs, along with similar views aired by Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa (she has already shot off a letter against the direct benefit transfer scheme to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh).

Considering the two CMs' strong opposition to the petroleum ministry's decision to bulldoze direct benefit transfer despite the Supreme Court ruling, the MHA has deferred setting up camps at LPG distribution centres, said sources.

In the backdrop of the apex court ruling and the petroleum ministry's insistence that after the grace period of three months, a person who does not have an Aadhaar can no longer receive LPG subsidy, Mamata, while saying that the Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for subsidy, she also threatened to ghearao the IOC regional headquarters in Kolkata.

Her government is also likely to voice its stance at a meeting with petroleum ministry representatives on November 11 at Nabanna, where officials from the registrar-general of India's office and the census directorate and oil companies will be present, said sources.

In both Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the National Population Register (NPR)-based registration is being implemented through the census directorate, under the MHA. Confusion and slow-paced implementation has been prevailing as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) - under the Planning Commission - has been entrusted with issuing the 12-digit Aadhaar number in several states.

Sushanta Mukherjee, president, West Bengal LPG Distributors Association, said: "We wonder when the camps will come up. They would have ensured maximum enrolment of Aadhaar." An oil company source added: "We are ready to provide the space for the enrolment camps, but the onus of the enrolment lies with the NPR. UIDAI has been organizing these camps, which would have gone a long way in the Aadhaar rollout. All the consumer would have done was to come to the centres with the blue books and Aadhaar numbers would have been issued."