AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8169 - EPFO Draft Order on Compulsory UAN Next Week

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

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

8169 - EPFO Draft Order on Compulsory UAN Next Week - Indian Express

EPFO Draft Order on Compulsory UAN Next Week

By Express News Service

Published: 20th June 2015 06:00 AM

BENGALURU: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is gearing up to notify a draft order next week that will make the Universal Account Number (UAN) compulsory for all organisations covered under the Employees Provident Fund Act.

Central Provident Fund Commissioner K K Jalan met over 150 employers in the city on Friday and discussed possible issues in this regard.

As per the new order, an employer will have to get a declaration on Form 11 from all employees within a month of joining the company and upload it on the UAN portal within 25 days of the close of each month.

The UAN will be shared with all existing employees who are members of the fund within 15 days of being generated and an acknowledgement will be obtained.

Know Your Customer (KYC) details like bank account numbers, PAN and Aadhaar numbers will also have to be uploaded within a month of the receipt of the UAN, and Aadhaar numbers, when provided, will have to be uploaded on the UAN portal within 15 days, as per the new rules.

“We have fixed a deadline of August 25 for carrying out the orders in the notification, which will be issued soon. Action will be taken under the powers given to us by the Employees Provident Funds Scheme-1952 and other applicable laws in case of failure to comply with the order,” Jalan told reporters.

He termed the order a ‘paradigm shift’ in the functioning of the organisation. “For the first time, the EPFO will be enabled to deal directly with employees. Work started in July 2014 and it (UAN) was launched in October 2014 as a voluntary scheme. But we have directions from the government now to make UAN mandatory.”

PF Near You

The EPFO will call its Bhavishya Nidhi Adalat ‘Nidhi Aapke Nikat’ to do away with inhibitions of sections of society from approaching public hearings to get their issues resolved.

Jalan said the new ‘PF Near You’ exercise will have features aimed at making the mechanism more accessible. “EPFO will be moving away from a pure grievance redressal-centred approach to a more broad-based and participatory approach. We will not only redress grievances but also invite suggestions, sensitise stakeholders and provide a platform for employers to vent their grievances,” Jalan said.

The ‘PF Near You’ meetings will be held on the 10th every month (or the next working day if it is a holiday) from July in all regional/sub-regional office and will be presided over by the officer-in-charge or the next senior officer. Subscribers can attend the 10.30 am to 1 pm slot and employers the 3 pm to 4 pm slot. Exempted establishments can attend the 4 pm to 5 pm slot.