AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7139 - Link your LPG connection to Aadhaar or bank a/c to keep getting subsidy

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, January 14, 2015

7139 - Link your LPG connection to Aadhaar or bank a/c to keep getting subsidy - DNA

Link your LPG connection to Aadhaar or bank a/c to keep getting subsidyhttp://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-link-your-lpg-connection-to-aadhaar-or-bank-ac-to-keep-getting-subsidy-2048799

Friday, 2 January 2015 - 7:30am IST | Agency: dna

If you have not linked your gas connection to your Aadhaar number or bank account, please hasten to do so as the Modified Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (MDBTL) has been launched.

Here, LPG consumers who have linked their connections to their Aadhaar cards or bank accounts will have to purchase gas cylinders at market prices. The difference between the market price and the subsidised rate will be transferred to their bank accounts via the linking of the Aadhaar number to the LPG consumer number and bank account or directly to the account without any Aadhaar seeding.

LPG consumers will get a three-month grace period during which those who have joined the scheme will get the subsidy in their bank accounts and others who have not registered will continue to get cylinders at subsidised rate. Those who do not join the scheme even after the three-month grace period will be eligible for an additional subsidy parking period of another three months during which they will get cylinders at market price and the subsidy due will be credited to their bank account as they enrol for the scheme during this period. After this tenure, consumers who have still not joined the scheme will see this amount lapse and get cooking gas at the market-determined price. Once they join the scheme, they will get the subsidy with prospective effect.

Controller of rationing and director of civil supplies Shweta Singhal said the MDBTL scheme was being rolled out in the state from Thursday. Mumbai city and suburbs have 58.5 lakh LPG consumers, while the number in Thane is 17.5 lakh. "Of this, around 40% have already submitted their forms," she added, saying the forms are available at gas agencies and rationing offices. Officials said of this 40% around a fourth had linked their connections to Aadhaar numbers.

In June 2013, the UPA government had launched the scheme, which was linked to the UIDAI numbers. However, the BJP government renamed the scheme as PAHAL (Pratyaksh Hanstantarit Labh) and modified it to make Aadhaar optional and include the seeding of an LPG connection to a bank account. This was meant to cover those who have not registered for Aadhaar. However, once they get the UIDAI numbers, they will have to shift to an Aadhaar-based cash transfer. The scheme also allows people to opt out of receiving the LPG subsidy altogether.

The scheme aims at plugging diversion of highly subsidised LPG cylinders meant for domestic use to other purposes. It was rolled out in 54 districts covering 2.33 crore households in the country from November 15, including Wardha and Amravati in Maharashtra, which have the highest Aadhaar coverage in the state, while the rest of the country, including the Mumbai-Thane rationing area, has been brought under its ambit from Thursday. The first phase covered districts with over 95% Aadhaar generation.

"There were a lot of complaints in the previous scheme (which covered only Aadhaar holders)," admitted president of All-India LPG Distributors Federation Pratap Doshi.

"It is the responsibility of the respective oil marketing companies to (ensure) that the money comes to the (consumers') account," said Singhal, adding that consumers who had completed the seeding process and received the cash subsidy did not need to register again.

Consumers who have complaints in enrolment can contact the helpline on 022-22852814.