AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5873 - Modi cracks down on lazy babus: PMO orders tardy government officials to register for biometric roll-call

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, October 18, 2014

5873 - Modi cracks down on lazy babus: PMO orders tardy government officials to register for biometric roll-call - Daily Mail UK

Modi cracks down on lazy babus: PMO orders tardy government officials to register for biometric roll-call

By GAUTAM DATT

PUBLISHED: 10:30 AEST, 16 October 2014 | UPDATED: 10:32 AEST, 16 October 2014

Babus in Delhi cannot have it easy anymore. The days of not being around for work or turning up late will soon be over for the officials.

The Narendra Modi government is cracking the punctuality whip to put lazy officials on notice, asking them to enrol for a biometric roll call system which will track their attendance at the government offices and the hours spent at work.

Nearly half of Delhi babus are yet to adopt the new biometric attendance system, leading to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) setting October 25 as the deadline for bringing the entire government workforce under the punctuality regime.

Nearly half of Delhi's babus are yet to adopt the new biometric attendance system

A review of the biometric attendance system conducted by the PMO earlier this month found the babus to be lax. Out of 49,505 registered employees, only 24,107 had undergone the roll count.

A letter sent to various departments by secretary, ministry of communications and information technology R.S. Sharma said that the PMO expects 100 per cent enrolment of employees by October 25.

Registration into the biometric attendance system has been linked with the Aadhaar card. The officials cannot excuse themselves by claiming they did not have an Aadhaar card as special counters were established in all the departments to get them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured that the officials report to work at 9.30am sharp and the biometric attendance system is a step in the direction of improving productivity.

There was no system prevailing for recording the attendance of senior officers, while the junior government staff continued to rely on the archaic methods of enrolling in the manual register.

A ministry and department-wise break-up shows wide gaps in moving on to the more organised way of functioning.

Out of a 300-strong work force operating in the Cabinet Secretariat, only 147 employees marked their attendance on October 8.

The system will lock the login and logout time of each employee

Further scrutiny revealed that in the directorate of standardisation of the ministry of defence, only three persons marked their attendance when the strength of the department is 186.

The ministry of home affairs, where the biometric attendance system was introduced earlier but failed to take off, continues to show its reluctance. Out of a staff of 1,800, only 20 marked themselves as present.

But there are some ministries which have been prompt. The ministry of external affairs registered 1,384 officials as being present against the strength of 2,150.

The economic ministries have also responded well. In the department of economic affairs, 596 employees marked their attendance on October 8 out of 764.

The infrastructure ministries, like coal, saw only 50 persons marking themselves present out of 200. The urban development ministry has one of highest workforce with 13,266 employees.

It was noted that till now only 713 personnel had marked their attendance. Apart from the advisories, government employees have also received text messages reminding them that they have to enter the new roll call system.

The system will lock the login and logout time of each employee and maintain the track of number of hours spent at work.

Government servants have a dubious reputation for being more relaxed than the workforce in the private sector. This is the first time when officialdom has been made to be counted.

With the prime minister taking the babus to task, observers say, things are about to change for the slack officials.

It’s a different dispensation under Modi, and it’s about time that the babus pulled up their socks and did what they are supposed to do - serve the nation.