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

Monday, May 4, 2015

7907 - Khattar launches biometric system - The Tribune India

Haryana

Posted at: May 3 2015 12:07AM
Khattar launches biometric system

State goes digital as CM rolls out 7 e-services, apps for graft-free administration

Now, govt staff can’t miss work

Panipat: District Informatics and Science Officer Mukesh Chawla said, “Fifteen biometric machines started functioning on a trial basis at the Mini-Secretariat. These machines were installed as per DC Samir Pal Srow’s directions.” He said all the employees of various government departments would be covered for biometric attendance in three phases. Sources said the attendance detail of all employees would now be available online.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurates the Biometric Attendance System at the mini-secretariat in Panchkula on Saturday. Tribune Photo: Nitin Mittal

Hina Rohtaki
Tribune News Service
Panchkula, May 2

Waving off traditional barriers in public services, the Haryana Government became tech-friendly with the launch of several e-services and applications today.

E-services and software applications including — e-Stamping; Jeevan Pramaan; revised state portal; Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS); CM Window mobile app; and Aadhaar-linked registration of birth.

The services were inaugurated by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in Panchkula today.

An official release said, “The digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen includes easy access to common service centres and ‘cradle-to-grave digital identity’, e-Governance and e-Services on demand envisage electronic financial transactions and mobile platform based services.”

Khattar while inaugurating these services, said, “It is a matter of concern that at present the public has to submit birth certificate as an evidence of their existence and also have to visit the government offices time and again for the same.”

“Besides other benefits, the launch of these services would make e-governance visible; inject a dose of efficiency in the administration, and make Haryana move up the ladder of progressive states,” Khattar said.

Eleven e-services of the Revenue Department were also launched. These include: Scheduled Caste, Backward Caste, Other Backward Caste, Special Backward Caste, Tapriwas, Vimukt Jati, Economically Backward General Caste and Resident certificates, income certificate for education purposes, income certificate for other purposes and rural area certificate.

Similarly, some services of the Health Department were also launched. Under these, birth certificate, death certificate, and copies of certificates shall be provided.

Not just this, the state has become the first state in the country to implement Aadhaar-linked registration of birth. This system would ensure that every newborn will get an Aadhaar number at birth, besides the birth registration. Haryana also became the first state in the country to implement the Aadhaar-enabled AEBAS.

E-stamping would make the registry process easier as there would be no need to purchase stamp paper for the registry. Citizens can now generate e-Stamp by paying online. The revised state portal would have information about various and programmes of the departments.

In order to ensure that the government employees reach their offices in time, Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) has been implemented in government offices of the state.

Meanwhile, making the CM Window more effective, a mobile application was launched. Anybody can get to know the status of his or her complaint on their mobiles, using the app.

Khattar said that apart from this, 20 citizen-centric services have been linked with e-services under the Service Act to ensure their time bound delivery through the Citizen Service Centres (CSCs), one of which he inaugurated at Sector 15 Panchkula.

The government also plans to set up CSCs in villages across Haryana. During 2015-16, about 2,500 CSCs shall be set up across the state, the officials claimed.

Other landmarks
First state in the country to implement Aadhaar-linked registration of birth

Implementation of the Aadhaar-enabled AEBAS

Quote-unquote

It is a matter of concern that at present the public has to submit birth certificate as an evidence of their existence. The launch of these services will make e-governance visible, inject a dose of efficiency in the administration and make Haryana move up the ladder of progressive states. — Manohar Lal Khattar, chief minister
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