AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7107 - For Modi, it’s not the road less travelled

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, December 31, 2014

7107 - For Modi, it’s not the road less travelled - Hindu Business Line

For Modi, it’s not the road less travelled

OUR BUREAU

Among other policies, the new govt has continued UPA’s schemes such as Aadhaar and rural employment scheme

With a change in government, one expects changes in policy, as well. But the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has not only decided to continue with some of the key economic policies and initiatives of the previous government, it has also given a new lease of life to ‘Aadhaar’ or the Unique Identity Number, the UPA’s pet project.

When the Modi government came to power there was a strong buzz that this scheme would be among the first casualties. But the project has not only got additional budget allocation, its coverage targets has also been expanded.

Aadhaar

Interestingly, the authority for issuing this number, Unique Identification Authority of India is yet to get a statutory status; the National Identification Authority of India Bill has been pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2010. The question is, why did the Modi government decide to continue with this scheme? This, according to observers, could be for inclusive growth and providing benefits to the real beneficiaries. To achieve this, the first requirement is to identify the beneficiary and Aadhaar could play an important role here. Such a move would also help in achieving financial discipline.

With this in mind, the Cabinet (in its meeting on September 10) decided to increase the enrolment target to 100 crore from 60 crore.

In fact, the first indications of the continuation of the project came in the Budget presented in July. The budgetary allocation was enhanced to ₹2,039.64 crore in 2014-15 (₹1,550 crore in 2013-14). More than 70 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated since August 2010. The total expenditure incurred by UIDAI since inception is ₹4,906 crore (as on August 2014).

Currently, the authority is enrolling 10 lakh people every day at over 25,000 camps and permanent centres. It has revised its target and plans to enrol 15 lakh people every day. The Government has also provided fresh impetus to the UIDAI by linking Aadhaar to various schemes and initiatives, including the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), MGNREGA, Pensions, Scholarships, DBTL, UAN (EPFO), PDS, Passports and more recently attendance system in government offices besides incorporating it in the service book of government employee.

Rural employment

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme is another policy of the previous government which has been continued. The programme was termed a ‘game changer’ and played a key role in bringing back the UPA to power in 2009.

Since the inception of the scheme in 2006, the Government has paid ₹1,80,000 crore as wages, which is around 71 per cent of total expenditure on this scheme. The government has made it clear that the scheme will remain operational in all the 6,500 blocks and will not be restricted to 2,500 blocks as being alleged.

Apart from these, several other initiatives have been continued with some modification. For example, the financial inclusion programme has been expanded to rural and urban households. Similarly, the sanitation programme has got new name with more focus on providing toilet facilities for girls.

(This article was published on December 24, 2014)