AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 5900 - No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders:

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, October 29, 2014

5900 - No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: - Economic Times

No plan to curtail supply of subsidised LPG cylinders: Dharmendra Pradhan

PTI Oct 24, 2014, 03.32PM IST

NEW DELHI: The government has no plans to curtail supply of subsidised cooking gas (LPG) from current 12 cylinders per household in a year even as it looks to give cash subsidy to consumers across the country by June.

"There is absolutely no proposal to reduce subsidised LPG quota (per household)," Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI in an interview here.

In August, the Narendra Modi-led government gave consumers the freedom to avail their quota of 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg weight at subsidised rate during anytime of the year against the previous restriction of one per month.

Pradhan said the Cabinet had on Saturday modified the Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme for LPG to provide for cash subsidy equivalent to the difference between the current rate and the market price, in bank accounts of each consumer.

But unlike the scheme launched during the previous UPA government, having an Aadhaar card for getting the cash subsidy is not mandatory, he said.

Currently, the modified DBTL is being launched in 54 districts and from January 1 it will be rolled out in all the remaining districts of the country, he said.

"We hope to extend the coverage to all the districts in three months and enroll majority of the consumers in another three months. So you can say by June, majority of the LPG consumers will be covered," he said.

LPG consumers who have opened accounts under the Jan Dhan Yojana too would benefit from the revised scheme. Over 6 crore such accounts have been opened so far and 4 crore more are being targetted by the year end to provide for at least one bank account per household.

Currently, bank accounts of LPG consumers are being seeded with their cooking gas numbers. Once that is done, cash subsidy will be transfered into the bank accounts so that the consumers can buy the LPG refills at market rates.

Presently, 12 cylinders are available to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 414 each in Delhi. Any requirement beyond this will have to be purchased at market price of Rs 880 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Modi government stands for protecting the interests of poor and at the same time it will ease conditions for doing business in the country.

"Reforms and being pro-poor are not oxymorons. Being pro-poor does not mean that reforms will stop. Both the things can go together," he said.

The previous UPA government had linked DBT for LPG to the Aadhaar platform. But there were some legal issues, including some court orders, that prevented implementation of the scheme.

So, the new government has decided that in addition to the Aadhaar platform, all those who have a bank account will also get the LPG subsidy in their accounts directly.

He said the scheme will be implemented in a mission mode. There will be no consumer who will be denied LPG for want of Aadhaar number.

Pradhan said the government is working on fixing the amount of subsidy to be given under DBTL.