AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7869 - Mission to clean up electoral rolls in northeast

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

Friday, May 1, 2015

7869 - Mission to clean up electoral rolls in northeast - ZEE News

Mission to clean up electoral rolls in northeast

Last Updated: Sunday, April 26, 2015 - 16:15

Agartala:To ensure clean electoral lists and eliminate error and duplication of names, India`s northeastern states will intensify the drive to purify the voters` lists in eight states, a top official said.

"To clean the electoral lists, the Aadhaar number and other contact details seeding NERPAP (National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme) has been launched countrywide and it would continue till August 15," Tripura Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sanjay Kumar Rakesh told IANS.

He said "To intensify the implementation of NERPAP, the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of eight northeastern states would meet in Shillong (Meghalaya) on April 29. A time-bound programme would be chalked out to execute the NERPAP without any hitches."

The official said that all the three deputy election commissioners of the Election Commission -- Vinod Zutshi, Sudhir Tripathi and Umesh Sinha - would attend Wednesday`s important meeting to give tips to the election officials of the region about implementing the new scheme.

Over 28 percent of northeast India`s 45.58 million population consists of tribals who are not familiar with the electronic and on-line systems.

"A section of tribals influenced by superstition are also reluctant to get enrolled with the `Aadhaar`numbers. They believe that if they get the 12-digit Aadhaar number they would be equated with the beast," sociologist Sujan Banik told IANS.

Except Tripura and Sikkim, the enrolment performances in other northeastern states are very poor.

According to an official report, Meghalaya is at the bottom in terms of availing Aadhaar numbers. The percentage of Aadhaar cards released in Meghalaya is 0.7 percent followed by Assam (0.08 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (12.2 percent), Mizoram (26.2 percent), Manipur (41.2 percent) and Nagaland (43.2 percent).

Sikkim registered 94 percent Aadhaar enrolment and Tripura 95 percent, the highest in the northeastern states.

About 500 million of India`s 850 million voters have Aadhaar numbers and the rest are expected to get them before this year-end.

Rakesh said "NERPAP was launched in most parts of the country on March 3. It was started in Tripura on April 1 through a door-to-door campaign. After completion of the programme, duplication of names of electors in the electoral list would be almost zero."

According to Election Commission statistics, 85 million names on India`s electoral rolls are either fake or duplicate.

Rakesh said that under the Representation of People`s Act, getting registered in the voters` list at more than one place is a punishable offence.

"To make NERPAP successful, special camps once a month on a Sunday, door-to-door campaign and various other types of publicity would be conducted to make the people aware and to participate in the programme," he added.

The booth-level officers would go to each household to distribute the form and to collect the information about the electors.

About the Supreme Court`s direction not to make `Aadhaar` number mandatory in providing government facilities, the official said it would not be a compulsion until all the citizens get the 12-digit Aadhaar numbers.

"After `Aadhaar` number and other contact details are incorporated with the electoral lists, pan India facilities with all relevant information about a voter would be at the fingertips from any part of the country and abroad," the election official said adding that with the implementation of the NERPAP, election management would be further modernised.

IANS