AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5747 - After Aadhaar, UPA’s NPR also gets Modi’s push

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

Sunday, August 3, 2014

5747 - After Aadhaar, UPA’s NPR also gets Modi’s push - Indian Express

After Aadhaar, UPA’s NPR also gets Modi’s push

Written by Vijaita Singh | New Delhi | July 28, 2014 2:30 am

SUMMARY

The PMO had asked the Planning Commission to collect similar information on Aadhaar and DBT with regard to five key schemes

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to corroborate data on various beneficiaries.

SUMMARY

The PMO had asked the Planning Commission to collect similar information on Aadhaar and DBT with regard to five key schemes.

UPA’s Aadhaar, DBT schemes get boost from PM Modi

Aadhaar, DBT get a lifeline, Modi to retain, push UPA schemes

Govt discusses merging NPR, Aadhaar projects

While Home Minister Rajnath Singh was reported to be keen on merging the previous UPA government’s two flagship schemes — the National Population Register (NPR) and Aadhaar — Prime Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to have indicated his interest in running both the schemes side by side.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to corroborate data on various beneficiaries — pensioners, scholarship holders, those who get subsidised LPG cylinders, passport holders — with the National Population Register (NPR) in about 300 districts across 22 states.

While the PMO has not spelt out the objective, it is believed that the exercise is being done to identify and weed out ghost beneficiaries — the biggest drawback of the Direct Benefits Scheme (DBT) launched by the UPA.

Earlier this month, the PMO had asked the Planning Commission to collect similar information on Aadhaar and DBT with regard to five key schemes — MGNREGS, pensions, scholarships, Public Distribution System and subsidised LPG — and submit a report by August 15.

“We have also been given an August 15 deadline. We have been asked to match the data of beneficiaries with the NPR. It is a huge task as we have a set format. So if a beneficiary’s name is misspelt in his scholarship form, it would not match with our data. This does not necessarily mean that the person is a ghost beneficiary. It will then require field visits to ascertain the identities,” said a senior official.

Home Secretary Anil Goswami has asked all the concerned departments, including HRD, Finance, Department of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Rural Development, External Affairs, to furnish the relevant details.

Sources said the government agreed to give a push to Aadhaar, the previous government’s flagship scheme, after its former chairman, Nandan Nilekani, gave a presentation to the PMO. Subsequently, at a meeting on July 5, Modi made it clear that both the projects would stay. “The Home Ministry had already convened a meeting with the Planning Commission to discuss ways to integrate the two projects.

But Nilekani gave a presentation to Modi, after an appointment was arranged by a senior Cabinet minister. Following this meeting, the plan to integrate the projects has been put on the backburner, said a senior official.