AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5662 - Modi to take UPA’s Aadhaar, DBT schemes forward

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, July 11, 2014

5662 - Modi to take UPA’s Aadhaar, DBT schemes forward - eGov

Modi to take UPA’s Aadhaar, DBT schemes forward

July 11th 2014

It’s official now. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will carry forward the erstwhile UPA government’s flagship Aadhaar project and the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme.

Giving the Aadhaar programmes a new lease of life, Modi recently sought a 100-crore enrolment target at the “earliest”.

The current enrolment is at 70 crore, with 65 crore Aadhaar cards already issued. He is also reported to have asked the officials to look into the possibility of linking passports with its data.

PM Modi also pitched for all Aadhaar-based DBT schemes, including for LPG, which the previous government had scrapped, at a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Director General Vijay Madan on July 5.

While there have been talks of merging Aadhaar with the National Population Register, officials say that appears ruled out for now.

Government sources said the additional enrolment should be feasible given the “interest and push” the Modi government now seems to be displaying, along with its focus on monitoring and effective implementation. “Aadhaar enrolment and DBT rollout had all slowed down with the UPA regime having lost interest in the project. But the new Prime Minister has emphasised fast-tracking it. With close monitoring and support by the government, the targets should not be tough to achieve,” a senior government official said.

Saturday’s meeting also discussed linking the recently launched e-passport system with Aadhaar, using the biometric data collected under the latter, thus avoiding duplication of work. Sources say the issue of Aadhaar being applicable to all residents and not just nationals, a key concern expressed by the BJP in the past, did come up for discussion but given that the issue does not fall in the UIDAI’s mandate, it is up to the Home Ministry to resolve it.

The DBT scheme, launched by the UPA with much fanfare, had taken a hit because of implementation gaps and poor monitoring. Modi has asked officials to implement the scheme in 300 districts on a priority basis where Aadhaar enrolment is over 80 per cent. Officials say this essentially leaves out districts in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where enrolment is dismally low.

- See more at: http://egov.eletsonline.com/2014/07/modi-to-take-upas-aadhaar-dbt-schemes-forward/#sthash.dYP0rmef.dpuf