AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 7873 - No Aadhaar card? You’re not a pupil

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

7873 - No Aadhaar card? You’re not a pupil - Pune Mirror

No Aadhaar card? You’re not a pupil

Pune Mirror | Apr 27, 2015, 02.30 AM IST

New edu dept rules make it mandatory for students to be registered in government schools with their card numbers, drawing flak from teaching staff

What has education got to do with the Aadhaar card, you say? Well, from now on, this card will be the only proof that your child is a student. A government order has declared that astudent needs an Aadhaar card in order to be enlisted as one in the government records, which determines the student-teacher ratio.

The order says, "Every school student must have the Aadhaar card so that his/her admission will be legitimate. Students without the Aadhar card will not be counted in government records." This order has put staff of government schools in aquandary as they are in danger of being declared as surplus if some children in class do not have the Aadhaar card. For, they will not be counted, thereby adversely affecting the ratio. The student- teacher ratio determines teachers' approvals and the allotment of number of divisions per class among others. A recent battle between teaching and non-teaching staff at government schools over staff being declared surplus had hit students, with schools threatening to remain closed until the problem is resolved.

The new parameters had been decided at a meeting in the initial weeks of April. After the education department's decision to link the Aadhaar card number with the unique identity number of school students; this declaration is being looked at as a diktat to put the responsibility of students' Aadhaar cards on schools. Mahavir Mane, state director of primary education, explained, "Connecting the Aadhaar card with the unique identity number of students will also help in keeping records of students who drop out of school. If a student leaves one school and if his or her unique Aadhaar card number is not registered with another school, the government will immediately know that he or she has left schooling. With the Aadhaar card, it will be easier to track the child and put him back in school. If schools take the responsibility, Aadhaar card procedures will speed up as the authorities can directly come to the school for formalities."

Harishchandra Gaikwad, head of the Pune Principals' Association, said, "The declaration further explains several new parameters for deciding on approvals on the number of teachers, divisions and schools. In a previous order, the education department had already put the responsibility of creating Aadhaar Cards for students on schools. With this new order, schools have no option but to take that responsibility so that each student is counted in government records."

Prashant Redij, head of the Maharashtra State School Principals' Association, saw the order as an obstacle race in numbers for schools. "These new parameters decide the mandatory number of students required in each class for a school. Till Class IV, it's 30 students per division; till Class VIII, it's 35-37 and then, in Class IX and X, it's expected to jump to 40 and above. How can any school follow these norms? Once a child is put in school, parents generally don't take him out before completing Class X. Who will come to a new school in Class IX? When we are beginning with 30 students in Class I, how can the number suddenly rise to 40 or above in class X?" he asked.