AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5285 - Will win seat; Congress and my ideology in sync: Nilekani

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

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

5285 - Will win seat; Congress and my ideology in sync: Nilekani - Money Control

Mar 10, 2014, 08.59 PM IST | Source: CNBC-TV18

Will win seat; Congress and my ideology in sync: Nilekani

Nilekani is happy about his decision to contest the polls and believes he will win this seat. He believes India needs huge change to meet the aspirations of young people. To be an effective lever of change an individual needs to be an elected leader and hence the need to contest polls, he explains.

My father was a Nehruvian. So, I have been brought up with those values. NANDAN NILEKANI Congress member Congress

My ideology and the Congress ideology are completely in sync. The secular liberal values of the Congress are what I believe in," says Nandan Nilekani, who will be contesting the polls on a Congress ticket from Bangalore South. He has been leading the Congress’ Unique Identification Authority of India project.

Interestingly, former Infosys chief financial officer and director and Nilekani’s former colleague V Balakrishnan is the Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate from the Bangalore Central constituency for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. Balakrishnan says he does not wish to fight against Nilekani . Nilekani is happy about his decision to contest the polls and believes he will win this seat. He believes India needs huge change to meet the aspirations of young people. To be an effective lever of change an individual needs to be an elected leader and hence the need to contest polls, he explains. Below is the verbatim transcript of Nandan Nilekani's interview with Rajdeep Sardesai on CNBC-TV18

Rajdeep: Are you being brave or are you being foolish

A: I would say that I am taking a considered risk. I have thought about it, I have analysed it, I believe I can win this seat and I do intend to win this seat. Life is about taking risks, about taking the right plunge at the right time. I am perfectly happy with this decision.

Rajdeep: Right plunge at the right time is the question to ask because the question will be asked - why Congress? At a time particularly when there is a sense of an anti-Congress wave particularly in urban India, is this the right time to be a) contesting the election and b) contesting on a Congress ticket?

A: I am very happy to be contesting on a Congress ticket. My ideology and the Congress ideology are completely in sync. The secular liberal values of the Congress are what I believe in. My father was a Nehruvian. So, I have been brought up with those values. It is the Congress UPA government that gave me the opportunity to lead the Aadhaar project and gave me complete political support to make Aadhar successful. So, I am very much part of the Congress family.

Rajdeep: Why make the transition to full time politics? Many would have said that Nandan Nilekani could have helped shaped policy whether it is the Congress government, whether it is the BJP government. To actually get into politics and contest an election, I come back to it, isn’t it a huge risk you are taking? You could fall flat on your face?

A: It is a risk but I think India needs huge change. If we are going to meet the aspirations of our young people India needs huge change. Politics is the biggest lever of change. To be an effective lever of change in politics, one has to be an elected politician, QED (quod erat demonstrandum) I have to stand for elections.

Rajdeep: The question is you are contesting from a constituency where there is a 5-time sitting BJP MP, a strong man in a sense of Bangalore city in Ananth Kumar. So, it is not as if it is an easy run for you. It is not as if Nandan Nilekani simply because you did what you did at Infosys can automatically transfers that to wining an election in Bangalore South. Politics is very different?

A: I agree with that, I come from a corporate, technocratic and governance background but the constituency is right for change. They want a new candidate, they want a fresh clean face. They want someone who comes with a track record of performance. I have performed in the private sector through Infosys, in the public sector through Aadhaar, in urban governance through BATF. I have written a book of ideas, Imagining India. So, I have got varied experiences that I can bring to the table and I get a very positive response when I meet my constituents in Bangalore South. So, I am very confident that I will win this election.

Rajdeep: You may have a fresh clean face but the party that you are part of doesn’t have that fresh clean fresh. One of the reasons why there seems to be this anti-Congress mood in urban India is a sense that the Congress is associated with scams, with corruption, with generally poor governance over the last five years. So, your track record cannot offset the baggage that you carry. You carry the baggage of the Congress party.

A: I think the Congress has done a great deal in the last five years and may be that message hasn't fully gone out. All politics is ultimately local. I believe that when I walk the streets of Bengaluru, when I meet the people of Bangalore South they are looking for an ambassador, they are looking for somebody who can actively represent them. They are looking for someone who brings experience and performance to the table and that is what they are going to decide on. I am very confident about the selection.

Rajdeep: But the Congress party itself – how do you overcome the handicap that people have - this perception that the Congress party allowed corruption to flourish? Ananth Kumar is going to come and say Nandan Nilekani is part of a party which he believes has sphere headed the most corrupt government of post independent India?

A: The record of the BJP in Karnataka was not exactly stellar. They have a huge record of corruption there. I don’t think it is that. I think the issue is about the candidate, the Congress party in Karnataka has done very well. So, there is a positive environment for me to contest this election.

Rajdeep: I remember covering Manmohan Singh's campaign in 1999 when he contested for the first time in a Lok Sabha election. Again clean, urban professional, but the moment he entered electoral politics it was a completely different game out there and he actually lost that election to Vijay Kumar Malhotra.

Would you concede that therefore politics is a completely different game? It is not just about being seen as a brand ambassador, about being seen to have a relatively clean image.

Out there you are going to have to look at caste loyalties, community loyalties, you are going to have to play a different game?

A: I agree that it is a very different game. I agree that I have a steep learning curve because I am entering this for the first time. However, I am doing everything to mitigate that. For example, I am working very closely with the Congress party.