AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5824 - Cashing in on UPA schemes, NDA takes them a step further

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, September 3, 2014

5824 - Cashing in on UPA schemes, NDA takes them a step further - Indian Express

Cashing in on UPA schemes, NDA takes them a step further

Written by Ruhi Tewari | New Delhi | September 2, 2014 12:39 am

At a high-level meeting in July itself, Modi set a target of one billion Aadhaar enrolments “at the earliest”. (Source: IE archive)

SUMMARY

At a high-level meeting in July itself, Modi set a target of one billion Aadhaar enrolments “at the earliest”.

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Putting to rest speculation about the fate of the previous UPA government’s most ambitious scheme — issuing Aadhaar cards and linking all benefits to this unique identity — the NDA government has given it a decisive push with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself taking a keen interest in its rollout.

At a high-level meeting in July itself, Modi set a target of one billion Aadhaar enrolments “at the earliest”. The current enrolment is 700 million. He also endorsed Aadhaar-based Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes, including for LPG, which the previous government had scrapped. Simultaneously, he asked government departments to implement the DBT scheme on priority in 300 districts where Aadhaar enrolment is over 80 per cent.

Aadhaar and DBT are big-ticket reforms initiated by the Congress-led UPA government, but their rollout was hit due to implementation bottlenecks. The then Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman, Nandan Nilekani, updated both Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi every month on the progress of the scheme.

The NDA government has taken the DBT scheme seriously, given the impact it can have on the government’s subsidy programme. The Prime Minister’s Office is studying a report prepared by the Planning Commission on utilising Aadhaar identification for transfer of benefits to the accounts of beneficiaries under the MGNREGA, pension, scholarship, public distribution system and LPG subsidies in the 300 districts.
Using Aadhaar further, the government has also made it the basis of several fresh proposals. It will soon introduce Aadhaar-based biometric systems to keep a watch on attendance of central government employees. The government is also studying enrolment of all prisoners using Aadhaar and linking the recently-launched e-passport system with Aadhaar by retrieving biometric data collected under the UID scheme.

In fact, Modi’s ambitious financial inclusion plan, the Jan Dhan Yojana, announced on Independence Day will also be based on Aadhaar. Essentially, bank accounts under the scheme will be opened using Aadhaar to satisfy the KYC norms. Clearly, the Modi government has sensed an opportunity to make the most of the groundwork already in place.

Officials said the importance of Aadhaar for avoiding duplication, eliminating ghost beneficiaries and ensuring better targeting is not lost on this government. The UPA government’s big mistake was that it launched the DBT scheme towards the end of its tenure, and attempted to expedite its implementation with an eye on electoral benefits. However, inadequate groundwork and poor monitoring wrecked its plans.

The Modi government started work on Aadhaar/ DBT within the first 100 days of coming to power, with the PMO monitoring the schemes closely. So, there is every likelihood that the loopholes will be identified and plugged and the schemes implemented systematically.

Further, there were serious differences over Aadhaar within the UPA government itself.

There may be a hurdle or two still, including the BJP and RSS’s opposition to Aadhaar for including all residents in the country, and not just Indian nationals. When the UPA initiated Aadhaar, the BJP had expressed fears that illegal immigrants, including those from Bangladesh, may end up with Aadhaar cards and thus be eligible for cash benefits. The Home Ministry is yet to take a final decision on this.