AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7836 - Go online to link EPIC with Aadhaar: District admn to urban voters

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, April 30, 2015

7836 - Go online to link EPIC with Aadhaar: District admn to urban voters - Indian Express

Go online to link EPIC with Aadhaar: District admn to urban voters

Written by Nisha Nambiar | Pune | Published on:April 23, 2015 1:19 am

Launched a month ago,

programme yet to pick up.

A month after the launch of the National Electoral Rolls Purification and Authentication Programme which links Aadhaar with voters’ Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC), it is yet to pick up. The district administration has asked urban voters to log onto the election website to link directly and not to wait for special drives.

“Even after a month, we are not drawing a good response. We would want urban voters to log onto the election website and submit the details of the Aadhaar and the EPIC so that they can be linked under the programme. They can also do so at the Electoral Registration Offices, but urban voters, having access to internet services, can do it directly,’’ said deputy election officer Samiksha Chandrakar Gokule.

The drive will be on till June 30. The election officer said that citizens should link their EPIC number with their Aadhaar number online on the website and those who did not have an EPIC, should contact the election office at the old Zilla Parishad building on the first floor. Presently, the EPIC coverage is 91 per cent.

Pune district has 70 lakh voters. Voters have to submit details under a special form that asks EPIC number as well as Aadhaar number. The drive is focussed on collection of details of Aadhaar card, voluntary disclosure of duplication of names, improvement of image quality in the electoral roll as well as collating mobile number and e-mail addresses.

The ECI wants to have a clean electoral roll. Despite completion of the summary revision, errors were noticed. The drive is aimed at an electoral roll without defects, errors or multiple entries. The election officer added that those whose names figured in two constituencies should submit form 7 for deletion of name. “We would be scanning for such names and issuing notices. If there is no response, the names would be automatically deleted,’’ said Gokule.

Feeding of the Aadhaar number in the EPIC database will be done through a National Voters Service Portal, using web services through election commission website or through an SMS to 51969 or by email or by a mobile app. The app is still being developed.

The process can be initiated by calling 1950, a toll-free number, or by submitting the Aadhaar number and the EPIC number in a duly filled format along with a photocopy of EPIC and Aadhaar card. The programme is aimed at achieving 100 per cent coverage by July as per ECI guidelines. The commission has asked the CEO to monitor the programme closely and take stock of the situation, the target achieved and the review of the work remaining.