AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8296 - Centre wants SC restraint on Aadhaar information removed

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

Saturday, July 25, 2015

8296 - Centre wants SC restraint on Aadhaar information removed - Financial Express

Centre wants SC restraint on Aadhaar information removed

The two-year-old SC stay held back the government from asking for Aadhaar numbers to transfer benefits under social welfare programmes

By: fe Bureau | New Delhi | July 17, 2015 12:00 am

Seeking to make the enrollment of citizens for Aadhaar cards under the initiative launched by the previous UPA government mandatory, the finance ministry on Thursday requested the Supreme Court to vacate its two-year-old stay order that restrained the government from asking for Aadhar numbers to transfer benefits under various social welfare schemes.

In its fresh application, the NDA government has told the apex court that it intends to make the Unique Identify Scheme under the Planning Commission applicable to other government schemes such as obtaining passports, PAN cards, immigration, railways, telecommunications and prison management systems.

The stay order — issued on September 23, 2013 and later reiterated on March 16, 2015 — has had a bearing on the effective implementation of the direct benefits transfers (DBT), the application said.

Financial benefits are now being transferred on the basis of bank account numbers. But it is not possible to locate the fakes, ghosts and duplications in the system — something which can be easily done if Aadhar numbers are provided, the application said, promising the government would take all safeguards during the enrollment.

According to the government, the Unique Identity Scheme and DBT programme are the two important initiatives which are for the “better management of subsidies.

The government has said the scheme has been a “tremendous success” and it has decided to extend it from the earlier 35 schemes to all its projects involving cash transfers. It further added that the scheme is of immense value as it has helped the government in streamlining the MGNREGA database.

It said that during 2014-15, the government has spent more than R4 lakh crore on various welfare programmes like subsidies in LPG, kerosene, food, health, grant of scholarships, pension etc. “Since the government is spending so much resources for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden of the society, it is in the overall interest of the nation that these benefits reach to the right people… The unique identity provided by the scheme is very useful in accurate identification of the eligible persons,” the application stated.

The Congress-led UPA government had in 2009 formed the authority and launched the programme subsequently to eliminate leaks in subsidies and other social benefits like gas subsidies etc. However, various individuals had challenged it, saying it lacks sanction of law and is invasive in nature. The PIL by one Mathew Thomas has alleged that the security credentials of agencies collecting information from citizens were not thoroughly scrutinised.

However, the apex court has asked the central and state governments not to deny social benefits to anyone on the grounds that a person lacks an Aadhaar card. On the last hearing, Chief Justice of India H L Dattu had promised to constitute a new bench to hear the case. The matter is now listed for hearing on July 21.

First Published on July 17, 2015 12:29 am