AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5581 - Modi dissolves four Cabinet panels

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

Saturday, June 14, 2014

5581 - Modi dissolves four Cabinet panels - Business Standard

Modi dissolves four Cabinet panels

BS Reporter | New Delhi June 11, 2014 Last Updated at 00:43 IST

To streamline administration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dissolved four Cabinet committees and shifted their functions to either the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) or the cabinet secretary.

The move came over a week after the prime minister did away with nine empowered groups of ministers and 21 groups of ministers.

The dissolved committees are: The Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities, the Cabinet Committee on Prices, the Cabinet Committee on World Trade Organization (WTO) Matters and the Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)-related issues.

FUSED PANELS

Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities
Now, panel under Cabinet secretary to handle its issues
Cabinet Committee on Prices
Cabinet Committee on World Trade Organization Matters
Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India
Now, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs to handle works of the three panels

Modi would now re-constitute CCEA, besides the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Security, an official statement said here. Being Cabinet committees, all are chaired by the prime minister himself.

While functions of the Cabinet Committee on Management of Natural Calamities will be handled by a panel under the cabinet secretary whenever natural calamities occur, tasks of three others will be handled by CCEA. The functions of the committee on WTO matters will also be looked after by the full Cabinet, whenever necessary.

Functions of CCEA currently include a review of economic trends, problems and prospects to evolve a consistent and integrated economic policy framework for the country. Its tasks also include directing and coordinating all activities in the economic field, including foreign investment.

The committee on UIDAI will no longer be there, as according to the official statement, "major decisions in this area have already been taken and the remaining issues will be brought to the CCEA".

This comes amid speculation that the UIDAI project might be amalgamated with the National Population Register (NPR), as the ruling party is said to be sceptical of certain elements concerning Aadhaar such as that it includes all residents and not just citizens of India. However, any form of official communication is yet to come.

The committee on UIDAI had earlier mediated between the authority and the Registrar General of India (RGI). Issues of duplication had broken out between Aadhaar and RGI's National Population Register and the committee tried to resolve the matter by geographically splitting the country for the two agencies.

It also delved into security concerns pertaining to Aadhaar raised by the home ministry. The last decision taken by the committee expanded UIDAI's mandate into four NPR states to fast-track the enrolment of residents into projects.

The move to merge the Cabinet Committee on prices came as the government is grappling with the issue of high food inflation. Sub-normal monsoon could further add to the price pressures.