AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8797 - Financial Inclusion Through Information Technology

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

Friday, October 2, 2015

8797 - Financial Inclusion Through Information Technology - Computer Financial Express

Financial Inclusion Through Information Technology

By Anoop Verma on September 30, 2015

- See more at: http://computer.financialexpress.com/interviews/financial-inclusion-through-information-technology/13918/#sthash.mcuVpcrQ.dpuf

“The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has brought significant improvements in the way bank accounts are opened in the country,” says Rajesh Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.

What is your view of financial inclusion in India?

Our Prime Minister has said that financial untouchability is as bad as social untouchability. Non inclusion in the financial sector means that people are unable to open a bank account; they don’t have the facility of life or health insurance; they cannot access loan in times of need. Unfortunately, in our country, a large section of the population has hardly any access to the financial sector. Before the Aadhaar number system or the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana came into being, a simple task like opening a bank account was difficult for people existing in the marginalised sections of our society. So much paperwork would be involved in opening of bank accounts that most poor folks could not cope. The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana has brought significant improvements in the way bank accounts are opened in the country. Probably for the first time in our history, the bankers went to the rural people, instead of the rural people approaching the banks, and requested them to begin using various financial services. This scheme uses latest communications and IT systems to ensure that the banks are able to provide efficient services to the people at lowest possible cost.

The installation of new ATMs in the rural areas is being envisaged in the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana. What kind of progress is being made in this area?

Government of India. If the branch is 20 kms away, the villager will not be able to use the banking services, so we certainly require more ATMs. We are closely monitoring the the Bank Mitra programme, in which employees associated with any particular bank carry micro-ATMs with them. These micro-ATMs are interoperable and provide the convenience of doorstep banking to the people in rural areas. They help in easy deposits, withdrawals and remittances. We are also providing people in rural areas with ATM cum debit RuPay cards. It is often the case that poor people are unable to remember their pin numbers, so we are trying to get all our ATM machines Aadhaar enabled. This will ensure that the poor people can use these machines through two different options as per their convenience: Fingerprint+Aadhar or Card+Pin.

Your Department has started the Atal Pension Yojana and other Social Security Schemes for helping the poor. Please tell us about these initiatives.

This is primarily a government backed pension scheme targeting the unorganised sector. Originally it was mentioned in the 2015 budget speech of the Finance Minister in February 2015. It was formally launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 9 May in Kolkata. As of May 2015, only 11% of India’s population has access to any kind of pension scheme—the Atal Pension Yojana aims to increase the number. Under this scheme the subscribers will get minimum monthly pension ranging between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 per month. Government will contribute a part of the pension amount on behalf of the early bird subscribers. The scheme is linked to back accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme and the contributions will be deducted automatically. Another scheme that we have launched is the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, under which a payment of Rs. 200,000 is made to the nominee in case of death. The annual premium for this scheme is just Rs. 330. Then there is the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, which is available to people between 18 and 70 years of age with bank accounts. It has an annual premium of Rs. 12 only. In case of accidental death or full disability, the payment to the nominee will be Rs. 200,000 and in case of partial disability Rs. 100,000. This scheme has been a runaway success, with more than 7 crore policies issued till date.

Before coming to the Ministry of Finance, you served as the IT Secretary in Maharashtra. As IT Secretary, what steps did you take to promote financial inclusion in the country?

I was very focussed on BPR (Business Process Reengineering) and simplification of procedures before initiating e-governance projects across various departments and organisations. Unless there is e-governance, you can’t create viable systems for financial inclusion in a country that is as large and populous as India. I tried to develop systems to ensure that the Bank Mitras (CSC VLEs and others) were able to work properly in the field. I was enthusiastic about the Aadhaar project from the very beginning, and we did lot of work in getting the Aadhaar seeded into different government databases, initialing eKYC based bank account opening and so on. In fact, now I am happy to see Aadhaar enabled bank accounts being used for transferring subsidy and benefits in case of LPG Cylinders, MNREGA, and other government schemes.

- See more at: http://computer.financialexpress.com/interviews/financial-inclusion-through-information-technology/13918/#sthash.mcuVpcrQ.dpuf