AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9109 - Looking for common ground on GST; hope to pass it soon, says Jayant Sinha

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

Thursday, December 3, 2015

9109 - Looking for common ground on GST; hope to pass it soon, says Jayant Sinha - First Post

Looking for common ground on GST; hope to pass it soon, says Jayant Sinha

Nov 27, 2015 13:31 IST

New Delhi: Amid opposition from the Congress party on GST Bill, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha today expressed hope that it would be passed soon as the government is willing to consider the suggestions being made and will find "some common ground for everyone".

"We are in continuous consultation with our colleagues in Parliament. Our hope very much is that we will be able to get GST passed. Whatever reasonable suggestions are made from our colleague in opposition, we are absolutely willing to consider it," he said at an event here.

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. Image courtesy CNN-IBN

As far as the additional 1 per cent tax in the Goods and Services Tax regime is concerned, he said there have been many opinions voiced on the issue. It has become a key point in the debate on GST.

"We have to find a solution that is acceptable to all stakeholders... We have to find some common ground for everyone," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu claimed yesterday that of the total 32 parties represented at the all-party meet, 30 were in favour of the legislation and wanted its early passage.

GST, which will subsume more than a dozen state levies to create a single market, is to be implemented from April 1, 2016. A Constitution Amendment Bill could not go through the Rajya Sabha in the last session of Parliament due to opposition from Congress.

The April 1 deadline may be missed if Parliament does not pass the Bill in the ongoing Winter Session from November 26 to December 23.

Once the Bill is passed, more than half of the states have to ratify it before Parliament passes another enabling bill to implement GST.

With regard to non-performing assets (NPAs), Sinha said it is an area that the government have been intensively analysing and very vigilant in that regard.

"NPAs are result of many factors. There is not one silver bullet that is going to deal with the NPAs that we have in the banking system. It will require us to take a multi-dimensional approach," he said.

On the issue of reviewing some of the provisions of gold monetisation scheme so that it becomes attractive, Sinha said the government is in continuous discussion with all stakeholders and trying to find out difficulties.

"We are trying to find out ways as to how people could be motivated to use gold as financial assets," he said. On financial inclusion, he said the government has been able to solve an issue with the regard commission to be paid to the banks for cash out of government scheme.

"It has been concluded that there should be a fee that is paid for the cash out service. We have worked out all arrangements across the entire financial system by how people get paid when they cash out from the one of the direct benefit transfer payment," he said.

Besides, Sinha said that universal digital KYC (know your customer) is work in progress.

"Aadhaar is going to be the mechanism for that. We have to give Aadhaar certain standing. We are working on that as well. We have to strengthen Aadhaar from legal perspective... That's
how we can get into universal digital KYC," he said.
PTI