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, February 27, 2014

5191 - Aadhaar job to resume in twin cities - Telegraph India


Aadhaar job to resume in twin cities
BIBHUTI BARIK AND VIKASH SHARMA
Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Feb. 12: 

A new drive for issuing Aadhaar cards has begun in Cuttack on February 10, while it is set to be launched in Bhubaneswar on February 17.
In the first round of preparing these biometric data cards in Bhubaneswar, eight wards and eight other areas on its outskirts were covered. This time, the drive will be undertaken in all the 60 old wards of the city, along with 20 areas on the its outskirts.

Deputy census director Chittaranjan Mohanty said: “The first round of the project was done in the city during 2012-13. Now, we are in the second round. However, as we have to cover 60 wards and 20 areas on the outskirts, we will cover all areas in phases. We are prioritising those wards where space is available in public buildings.”

Census sources, however, said that till the first phase of the second round, only 50 per cent of the population in Bhubaneswar was covered for Aadhaar cards.

The entire population will be covered in several other phases. But, to cover the entire population, nodal centres will be planned at eight locations across the city, which will operate for at least four months.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s slum improvement officer Binay Kumar Dash said: “We have already identified four locations out of these eight nodal centres at a yatri nivas near Cuttack Road, a kalyan mandap at Chandrasekharpur, the Dakshin Chandi Mandap at Old Town and the Youth Association building at Jagamara. Sites for the four other nodal centres will be identified later.”

The first four nodal centres will start operation within a week. However, these centres will operate in addition to the usual biometric operations set up in the wards.
Master Apollo, a resident of Kalinga Vihar, said: “Even today, more than 50 per cent of the city population do not have Aadhaar cards. The government should open more nodal centres to cover all the left-out people.”
Cuttack confusion
Work for the third round for collection of biometric details for Aadhaar card has triggered confusion among people here.
Utter chaos prevailed at the Cuttack Municipal Corporation office on the second day of registration. Though the third round of biometric data collection started on February 10, a lot of people were unable to complete the registration process because of heavy rush in the two counters that have been opened at the municipal office here.
“I had come to register myself for the Aadhaar card. But, I was not able to complete the formalities because of mad rush,” said Sudhakar Beura, 72, a resident of CDA Sector-7.
“We are yet to get the Aadhaar card even though we had completed all the formalities in the first phase of the enrolment drive in October 2011,” said D. Padma Rao, 37,a resident of Buxi Bazaar.
However, civic officials said that a detailed plan had been chalked out along with the directorate of census operations, Odisha, to speed up the collection process of biometric details in Cuttack.
“We have decided to set up six nodal centres at various locations to expedite collection of biometric details for the Aadhaar cards in Cuttack. These centres will start collection of biometric details from February 14,” said deputy commissioner of the municipal corporation Manmath Kumar Biswal.
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