AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5321 - Aadhaar, no more than a framed photograph

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

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

5321 - Aadhaar, no more than a framed photograph - The Hindu

March 18, 2014

Updated: March 18, 2014 01:16 IST

Aadhaar, no more than a framed photograph

AMRUTA BYATNAL

NO REASON TO SMILE: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi inaugrating Aadhaar card distribution in the same village in 2010.

The aim of the Unique Identification Number was to make access to bank accounts easier but the first Aadhaar card holder is still not eligible for loans

In September 2010, Ranjana Sonawane became the first person in the country to get an Aadhaar card when the Unique Identity (UID) project was flagged off with much fanfare in Tembhli village in Maharashtra.

But today, what is unmistakeable is the disappointment the tribal woman expresses as she stands in front of the framed photographs of her receiving the card from United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“I spent Rs.600 in getting these photographs framed. It was a big moment for me … for the villagers of Tembhli. But today, we are exactly where we were four years ago. Even the roads in our village were built only for Sonia Gandhi, not for us,” Ms. Sonawane told The Hindu recently. Both she and her husband are farm labourers, earning Rs.200 each on lucky days.

Tembhli — its 1,200-strong population is entirely tribal — is a part of Nandurbar district, which has a 68 per cent tribal population. More than 70 per cent of the village migrates to western Maharashtra and Gujarat six months of the year, to work on sugarcane farms, according to Deputy Sarpanch Banshi Shendul. The day this correspondent visited the village, it wore a deserted look, with most houses locked, and only the older generation staying behind.

One of the features of the UID, a major political plank of the Congress-led UPA government, was that benefits of government schemes would be linked to its 12-digit number, making it easier for people to open and access bank accounts, secure loans and get payments of the work through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

“UID will help the hundreds of people in India, whose pride was hurt for so many years because of the lack of an identity. This will be their source of recognition from now on,” Dr. Singh had announced in Tembhli.

Identity, but no loan

There is recognition as Dr. Singh promised but no loan, said Sonawane’s neighbour, Kamalbai Nigode. “My son tried to take a loan. But he was told that Adivasi people do not return the money they borrow. We are poor, so we are not eligible for loans.”

“Only those with land are given loans. MNREGA payments through the Aadhar card are barely important for villagers, as we work as labourers in farms all year around,” Mr. Shendul said. “What the village needs is opportunities, and the compulsory Aadhaar registration has not helped us with it.”

Villagers recall every house getting new electricity meters when Ms Gandhi’s visit to the village to launch Aadhaar was announced. “We all got electricity. It was like Diwali in our village. But after a few months, we could not pay the bills anymore, so our meters were taken away,” 70-year-old Ms Nigode said.

“Even the electricity was for Sonia Gandhi, just to show that our village has progressed. She hasn’t come back to check, has she?” she added, displaying her framed photograph from the Aadhaar ceremony.

amruta.b@thehindu.co.in