AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5198 - Aadhaar: rate of card generation skewed

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

5198 - Aadhaar: rate of card generation skewed - Deccan Herald

Aadhaar: rate of card generation skewed

Akram Mohammed, Mysore, Feb 15, 2014, DHNS :

Mandatory grievances cell not set up, despite continued concerns

Even as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) claims close to 100 per cent enrolment in Mysore district, few consumers and consumer organisations have raised suspicions that the rate of enrolment and rate of card generation is skewed, robbing several persons of benefits aimed at them.

Such cases have also raised the need for a consumer grievances cell for Aadhaar related issues, affecting hundreds, if not thousands of individuals in the district.

A case in point is R Geetha. The 57 year old, single women living with her mother in Kuvempunagar, Mysore, first enrolled for Aadhaar on November 30, 2010. Her Aadhaar enrolment failed for the first time and she was asked to re-enrol, which she did on April 4, 2013. Almost four years and two enrolments later, an Aadhaar card is yet to be issued to Geetha.

While mobile verification of her Aadhaar card status states that the card is ‘under generation’, online verification of her Aadhaar status springs a surprise. “No information is available for the entered ID”, is the response on the website.

Earlier, UIDAI and other agencies involved in the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of LPG subsidies had claimed that subsidies will be transferred to accounts of customers, by producing their Aadhaar enrolment numbers. “Even after I submitted my enrolment number, subsidies have not been transferred. When I enquired with the gas agency, they said that subsidies will only be transferred to accounts who have mapped their Aadhaar numbers, bank account numbers and LPG customer numbers. If Aadhaar cards is not generated, even after enroling twice, who is to blame?,” she questioned.

Moreover, there are no clear answers to the delay in Aadhaar card generation. “I had approached officials who said that something could be done if Aadhaar is generated and subsidy is not received. Or else, they said nothing could be done,” she said. Calling the UIDAI toll free number too did not help, she added.

Mandatory cell

V L Somashekar of Grahaka Shakthi alleged that even though a grievance cell is mandatory for every district under the National Identification Authority Bill, 2010. Despite implementation of DBT scheme in Mysore for over year, such a cell is yet to be constituted, he said.

Speaking about the high rate of enrolment and card generation in Mysore district, he said that UIDAI was “bluffing about the number of cards generated”.

The purpose of UIDAI was to capture bio-metric information of a person. After spending crores for the project, it is not clear where the bio-metric information is being used, he said.

District administration

Apart from the monthly review meeting with oil companies and LPG distributors of the district, nothing much appears to have been done by the district administration to sort out the issues faced by consumers.

While the residents of Mysore city could approach Mysore one centres in the city, such a facility for persons from rural areas to resolve their grievances is lacking.

Deputy Commissioner, C Shikha said that oil companies too have a helpline to assess the status of Aadhaar cards. She added that UIDAI’s toll free number could be used to sort out consumer issues.