AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8140 - Poorest of poor to get direct cash transfer

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, June 15, 2015

8140 - Poorest of poor to get direct cash transfer - TNN

Poorest of poor to get direct cash transfer

Mahendra Singh, TNN | Jun 13, 2015, 05.53AM IST

NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog is considering an "out of the box" proposal to identify five most deprived families in every village and provide them assistance through direct cash transfer as part of the Narendra Modi government's plan to eliminate poverty. The plan is in its initial phase and could be part of the strategy to combat poverty and use the JAM (Jan Dhan, Aadhar and Mobile) platform to plug loopholes and ensure that the benefits reach the poor.

Under the proposal which has been suggested by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the beneficiaries would be identified by the panchayats and they would be provided direct central assistance through various government schemes.

Among other measures, the aayog wants to incentivize panchayats and municipalities for success of anti-poverty programmes.

The Modi administration is keen to strengthen its "pro-poor" image after criticism that it favours the big corporates.

Therefore, the solutions that emerge from the brain-storming at NITI Ayog will ensure that the fight against poverty is fought at the level of beneficiaries without courting any controversy over the number of poor or the delivery mechanism.

A senior official said the concept of JAM trinity could play a vital role in widening the reach of the government to vulnerable sections of the society. More families could be included in future as part of anti-poverty schemes, he added. The pilot project could emerge as a bigger platform for the government's anti-poverty drive.

The task force on poverty elimination, headed by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya and including Bibek Debroy and the government's chief statistician TCA Anant, wants the government to address leaks and inefficiency in welfare schemes by encouraging Aadhaar-based services, noting that around 80% of the population was already covered under unique identification scheme.

The panel, which is likely to finalize its report by June-end, feels a mechanism of cash transfers and addressing the problem of leaks through the Aadhaar platform could be adopted for anti-poverty schemes.

The government is keen to avoid any controversy over the poverty estimates and is keen to ensure that the benefits reach the intended target group. The NITI Aayog is considering using more broad-based criteria by relying on a clutch of indicators including the socio-economic caste census and health indicators to arrive at the number of people who lack basic facilities, while keeping the poverty ratio only for analytical purposes. The specific measurable deprivation-based indicators will be used to identify beneficiaries for social welfare schemes.

Some members have proposed that purchasing power parity (PPP) concept could be considered for allocation of resources among states for various schemes. PPP among states could be derived from the NSSO consumption expenditure data or state-wise poverty lines and may be used for inter-state allocation of resources, they said.

The Aayog's task force is expected to suggest a combination of steps — from raising rural wages through fast economic growth, mainly in agriculture, to creating more jobs in labour intensive manufacturing sectors - to lift people out of poverty, officials said.