AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5359 - “How can you have an Anti-Corruption tool that’s itself beset with questions of frauds, fake IDs and corruption?”

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 26, 2014

5359 - “How can you have an Anti-Corruption tool that’s itself beset with questions of frauds, fake IDs and corruption?” - Rajeev Chandrasekhar Independent MP

March 25^th, 2014

“How can you have an Anti-Corruption tool that’s itself beset with questions of frauds, fake IDs and corruption?”

Statement by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP & Member, Standing Committee on Finance

This has reference to the recent media exposes about the Aadhar project and yesterday’s Supreme Court decision. This validates and confirms the position I have held publicly on Aadhaar on which I have written and spoken and attempted on many occasion to raise in Parliament.

There is for the first time, a detailed scrutiny of this project and its claims. I welcome this. Yet again, it is that media and our judicial system intervene on behalf of the people, cutting through the hyperbole and claims, just as they have on many important issues like 2G scam, Coalgate, Voting rights for Soldiers, when Governments fail to do so.

This scrutiny is required, the hype needs to be breached and truth needs telling.

For the taxpayers and right thinking citizens of this country, this scrutiny and analysis is welcome and is much required. Because it involves Rs 50,000 Crores of public money that has been/ is being spend on a project that I have long maintained is a tragic waste of precious taxpayer money.

The project has had little or no debate or discussion in Parliament or anywhere.

Throughout this project, the Government has rebuffed every effort for a discussion and engagement on the objectives, scope and impact of this expensive project. At a personal level I have sought many times a debate and discussion on this within Parliament and outside.

I am a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance which scrutinized this project and recommended its shelving and merger with the National Population Register. These recommendations were conveniently ignored by the Government and leadership of UID, which has otherwise made several statements on the supremacy of Parliament and the wisdom of the standing committees in other convenient contexts.

Aadhar is deeply flawed and is now searching for justifications.

The recent exposes confirm what several have suspected all along. That Aadhar is deeply flawed and is being used to regularize and create fake identities for those that seek it, in the easiest and cheapest manner! This should lead to all kinds of natural worries including the important one about risks of Illegal immigration both from security standpoint and also overwhelming our stretched social security/subsidy system. That this Government would allow this at a time when the Chief of Army refers to Illegal immigration, as one of the big dangers to National security, will make those that care about these issues get really angry and even the most insensitive amongst us shake our head in bewilderment. There are many other fundamental flaws in this including that of Data integrity, Privacy etc that have been flagged earlier.

Aadhar has become something other than its original objective

This project should have been a showcase of technology improving Governance. Instead because of shortcuts and other mysterious reasons, it has failed in that goal and has sadly has become yet another instance of Taxpayer moneys being used to propagate and market individuals and political agendas.

To refer to Aadhaar as an anti corruption tool despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary is mystifying. That it is now officially a Rs.50,000 Crores solution searching for an explanation is also without any doubt.