AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7545 - EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to end duplications in rolls

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

Thursday, March 19, 2015

7545 - EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to end duplications in rolls - TNN

EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to end duplications in rolls

TNN | Mar 14, 2015, 06.36AM IST

PATNA: The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP), which aims to link Aadhaar number with the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to eliminate duplicate electoral records, was launched in the districts on Thursday. According to statistical estimates, there are about 30 lakh duplications in the state.

Chief electoral officer (CEO), Bihar, Ajay V Nayak, while addressing a press meet to formally announce the programme on Friday, said, NERPAP is a holistic approach to remove discrepancies in the electoral rolls at the national level. "Besides duplication, ... improving the photograph quality or including mobile number and e-mail id in the database is also a part of the programme," he said.

The linking of Aadhaar number with EPIC can be done in many ways. A voter can add his own Aadhaar number to the electoral records by logging on to National Voters' Services Portal (www.nvsp.in or www.electoralsearch.in/) and update his details. Voters can also call 1950 (toll-free state-level call centre) or furnish their documents to their booth-level officers (BLOs). An SMS - 'ECILINK ' can also be sent to 166 or 51969 to do the linking.

"The BLOs will also be going door to door with a checklist and fill in the Aadhaar and mobile number and e-mail id, just like any survey," Nayak said, adding the BLOs will form booth-level awareness groups to sensitize people about linking Aadhaar number with electoral roll. A nationwide special camp will also be held at every polling station in every assembly constituency on April 12 for all these works.

As per the statistics, in 2015, 54% of Bihar's population should be above 18 to be voters. "But at present, about 57% of Bihar's population is registered as voters. This means there's a 3-4% overload on the electoral list, which is about 30 lakh odd people," Nayak said, adding there are 6.57 crore registered voters in Bihar.

Bihar, however, was already working to remove duplication in electoral rolls and about 3.75 lakh duplications at the booth-level will be eliminated by the end of March, Nayak claimed. "We introduced a new software in Bihar sometime ago which can detect duplication with almost 95% accuracy and are currently working on it at the booth level. In April, we will take it at the assembly constituency level and then at the district level," Nayak said.

While the Election Commission of India has fixed the deadline for linking the Aadhaar number with EPIC as August 15, 2015, the deadline does not apply to Bihar in its election year. "However, our aim is that the EPIC of everyone, who has an Aadhaar number, should be linked by May. We have also briefed all political parties, DMs and officials engaged in election duty for the same," Nayak said.

The CEO said voters can also search names in national electoral roll, print voter information slip, apply for enrolment, modification, deletion and change of address in electoral roll and know about BLOs and electoral roll officer using National Voters' Services Portal.