AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5549 - Will the Aadhaar card be ‘Modi’fied by the BJP?

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

Friday, May 30, 2014

5549 - Will the Aadhaar card be ‘Modi’fied by the BJP? - TheHans India

Will the Aadhaar card be ‘Modi’fied by the BJP?

May 22,2014, 06.06 PM IST | Lata Jain

The Rs 14,000 crore Aadhaar card project, under the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), set up by the central government aiming at creating a unique identity for each resident of India, through bio-metric –retinal and finger print scans was one of the best known e–commerce projects, is likely to be dumped by the Modi government.

The UID project evokes reactions ranging from ardent support to cynicism to suspicion. Advocates say it is one of the best ways to solve India's gargantuan problem of delivering governance to 1.2 billion people. Critics say it is too ambitious and high-tech for a country where nearly 40 per cent of the population is still officially defined as poor.

The UID project's open architecture lends itself to innovative applications. Besides MGNREGA payments, Aadhaar can be linked to distribution of cooking gas and food grain, cash transfers, and identity proof for SIM cards. It has the potential to spur enterprise and consumer applications.

While arguments are on for the past few months over the constitutional validity of the card and making them mandatory for availing benefits, new petitions are being filed by individuals for permission to 'opt out' of the scheme and for destruction of all personal information and to prevent abuse of details stored in UIDAI’s database.

Meanwhile the Supreme Court has put a full stop. It has delinked the Aadhaar card from LPG gas supplies, a major blow to the pet scheme of the UPA government.

Will the Aadhaar card be ‘Modi’fied?

The BJP was against Aadhaar. The BJP claimed that there were security implications if migrants wanted Aadhaar card as ID proof. Modi said Aadhaar had no legal backing.

Nilekani had dreamt big and Congress supported the project.

Nandan Nilekani believed that the Aadhaar based cash transfers would move around Rs 2,00,000 crore of welfare benefits every year into bank accounts of individuals.

Whatever Modi said during the campaign, inside sources in BJP believe the card is here to stay and may even use Aadhaar for cash transfers. Chances of strengthening the concept of cash transfers are gaining strength. The BJP wants it to rethink on the function and a foolproof system involving the functioning of the card for cash transfers and identity.

BJP sources have two concerns with the card, the lack of legal backing and the security implications. The Modi-fication in the Aadhaar might be that the BJP government will want the exercise to be done by the NPR (National Population Register).

“If the statements of Modi were to be recollected, he criticised giving ID to immigrants from other countries. Keeping in view Modi’s statements on Pakistan and Bangladesh, it seems some kind of biometric drive for identity will continue. Having invested huge amounts on this project, looks like Aadhaar is here to stay,” says Abhijit Sen, who stepped down a few days back as member of the Planning Commission. “The role of Aadhaar might be re-appraised,” he added.