AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 8930 - No Aadhaar card? You can’t take exams, Class I kids told

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, October 14, 2015

8930 - No Aadhaar card? You can’t take exams, Class I kids told - Bangalore Mirror

No Aadhaar card? You can’t take exams, Class I kids told

By Sridhar Vivan, Bangalore Mirror Bureau | Oct 14, 2015, 04.00 AM IST

Flying in the face of an SC ruling, schools in the city have threatened to bar students from sitting for exams if they fail to furnish the document

At all of five years, S Raj has no idea what an Aadhaar card is supposed to be. But its very mention gives him the jitters. So much so that Raj, who attends a posh school on Sarjapur Road, has been refusing to attend classes. It's the same story with hundreds of kids across the city.

With schools across the board, from private unaided, aided, government as well as minority institutions, declaring they will not allow students to write exams if they fail to furnish an Aadhaar card, it has become synonymous with dread. Till now, the UIDAI card had only been the bane of PU students.

"How can they insist on Class I students furnishing an Aadhaar card? Teachers have been sending reminders in the diary to send the Aadhaar card. When we said we did not have one, we were told our child may not be allowed to write final exams," Rahana S, a parent, told Mirror.

Recounting her experience, another parent said students in her son's school had also been told they would not be allowed to sit for their final exams if they did not bring a copy of the Aadhaar card. "Exams are currently on and it is a mental torture for the kids. We do not have one and my son is terrified. He fears he will not be allowed into the school. No explanation has been given as to why it is required."

She said their neighbour's son who studies in the same school cried and created a ruckus when his parents could not find his Aadhaar card. He even refused to go to school to write his exams till the card was found because his teacher had said it was compulsory. "It was with great difficult that they managed to pacify him."

The parents said the Supreme Court has already given a jolt to the Centre as it refused to modify its interim order (August 11 order of the apex court states Aadhaar card will remain optional for availing government welfare schemes and the authorities cannot use it for purposes other than PDS and LPG distribution system). In view of this development, they said schools should not be rigid either.

BG Murthy, president of Unaided Schools Association, said they were at the receiving end of criticism from parents. "When we tried to convey the parents' sentiments to the education department, officials expressed their helplessness, saying the directive had come from their higher-ups."

However, the diktat poses a dilemma to several parents who have not got Aadhaar cards despite applying long back.

Rakshith N said he had applied on June 15, 2013. "I am still waiting. Whenever I log in and type my enrolment ID, it shows an error. With such a situation, how can we give our Aadhaar details?"

Education department officials said they had been directed to collect details so that an Aadhaar enrolment drive could be started in schools.

General secretary of Karnataka Associated Managements of English Medium Schools (KAMS), D Shashi Kumar, said, "We need to follow the directive issued by the education department which requires us to collect details about Aadhaar cards from students. However, we have asked schools not to threaten kids with being stopped from writing exams without Aadhaar cards."