AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9037 - Finance Minister and RBI Governor bat for Aadhaar

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, November 18, 2015

9037 - Finance Minister and RBI Governor bat for Aadhaar - The Hindu

November 7, 2015

DEBATE ON IMPLEMENTATION

Finance Minister and RBI Governor bat for Aadhaar

TCA SHARAD RAGHAVAN

The need for this (Aadhar) and the utility for this has been universally recognised across States, says Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister.

Arun Jaitley says it is a matter for the executive to decide.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley spoke out against the fact that the Supreme Court is deliberating on the issue of Aadhaar being universally implemented saying that it is up to the government to decide the methodology of governance, not the courts.

“The need for this (Aadhaar) and the utility for this has been universally recognised across States. We are at a situation where there is a challenge pending in court and normally courts entertain a challenge which are judicially determinable. As to what should be the methodology adopted in governance is not a judicially determinable matter. It is a matter for the executive government to decide,” Mr. Jaitley said while summing up the day’s proceedings at the Delhi Economic Conclave on Friday.

The Finance Minister clarified that courts can be concerned when fundamental rights are in question, but they have to be consistent.

“We can’t have a situation where Aadhaar is acceptable for certain kinds of measures adopted by the government but not acceptable with regard to certain other kinds of measures. There will have to be a universal standard to be laid down,” Mr Jaitley said.

On the way ahead, he said that the government has two options in front of it—of arguing its case in court or placing it before the legislature—adding that the draft legislation on Aadhar is ready.

Speaking earlier in the day at the Conclave, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan said that Aadhaar is an important tool in banking.

“Aadhaar is extremely useful for a variety of aspects. One of the most important is the ability to build credit histories. Once you have an Aadhaar number, banks feel safer lending to you. They know you would be reluctant to default,” Mr Rajan said.

The Governor also said that India is currently going through a paradigm shift in how it is achieving financial inclusion. Where the earlier model saw access to credit as the big deficiency, the new paradigm is looking at a whole portfolio of instruments that can be used to help the individual.

The methods of delivery of services have become much more varied thanks to electronic banking, and no longer rely on the bank branch-led model, he added.

The Governor did have a word of caution for the government, however. “On DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer), I will mention that it is important, once the banks have put that in place, pay them the commissions that were promised. This has to be a commercial activity. Please do pay the banks the commissions they need to make it profitable,” the Governor said, adding that India is on the verge of a “paper-less, cash-less, presence-less economy”.

Mr Rajan also said that the Financial Stability and Development Council was close to completing a proposal that would significantly simplify banks’ KYC procedures, thus further bolstering financial inclusion.

Keywords: Aadhar card, Unique Identification Authority of India, UIDAI, Raghuram Rajan, Arun Jaitley, Delhi Economic Conclave