AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8544 - SC order on Aadhaar sweetens cash-for-grain initiatives

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

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

8544 - SC order on Aadhaar sweetens cash-for-grain initiatives

SC order on Aadhaar sweetens cash-for-grain initiatives

Arup Roychoudhury | New Delhi

August 18, 2015 Last Updated at 00:50 IST

The Supreme Court order last week on the use of Aadhaar card only for the direct benefit transfer (DBT) and public distribution scheme (PDS) is set to provide a boost to these programmes, with the government planning to speed up implementation of cash transfers for foodgrain subsidy nationwide.

Business Standard has learnt from senior government sources that the scheme to transfer subsidy in cash directly to beneficiaries' accounts, instead of selling them subsidised grain, will finally be launched in Pondicherry, Chandigarh, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli next month.

The scheme might be launched in multiple districts in each state, sources informed. This is clearly a step-up from the earlier plan to launch the scheme in one district per state on a pilot basis.

GRAIN OF TRUTH

Direct cash transfer in lieu of food subsidy to be rolled out in 3 UTs in September
Govt planning to launch scheme in multiple districts across states
Earlier plan in June was to launch scheme in one district per state
Launch of scheme was deferred pending Supreme Court decision on Aadhaar
SC order means DBT is now the most preferable route for future kerosene subsidy reforms
Schemes apart from DBT and PDS might see a slowdown in implementation

"The Supreme Court's order gives legal stamp of approval to PDS and DBT. It now provides validity to the Centre and the states to link Aadhaar with the bank accounts and ration cards," said a senior official.

Last week, the Supreme Court had observed: "The Unique Identification Number or the Aadhaar card will not be used by respondents for any purpose other than PDS and, in particular, for the purpose of distribution of foodgrain and cooking fuel such as kerosene. The Aadhaar card may also be used for the purpose of LPG distribution."

Business Standard had reported earlier that by June this year, about 330,000 ration card holders in Puducherry would have received Rs 300-400 a month each in their bank accounts in lieu of their monthly quota of rice, after which the schemes would be launched in other union territories (UTs) and one district per state initially.

However, the government deferred the launch of the scheme pending the Supreme Court judgement. Post the apex court's order, the scheme is set to be launched next month and will be expanded at a faster-than-earlier anticipated pace.

The official quoted earlier said that the order also means that DBT will become the most preferred route for the government to bring down kerosene subsidies. However, officials concede that the other schemes where the government was proceeding with linking of Aadhaar, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), will witness a slowdown in the process.

"There is now lack of clarity on what this means for other schemes, the ones where Aadhaar was being used in some way or the other, but now the Supreme Court has stated that that is not mandatory. We will meet with the Attorney General to get greater understanding of the judgement," said a second official, adding, "The officials in-charge of DBT in the finance ministry are in touch with the prime minister's office (PMO) and the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi's office to come up with plans on how best to proceed."