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, February 10, 2016

9329 - Aadhaar-based attendance for government offices by March 31 - Tribune India

Posted at: Feb 8 2016 1:14AM


Governor NN Vohra for timely finalisation of SRO-43 cases


OTHER MAJOR DECISIONS
  • Administrative secretaries, office heads to devote an hour on all working days for hearing public grievances, ensuring timely redress
  • Monitoring and concurrent evaluation, including third party evaluation, of development works in closing months of the financial year; ADDCs to monitor development works in all districts
  • Aadhaar enrolment to be completed in all respects by March 31
  • All office heads to ensure maintenance of proper cleanliness in government offices
  • Framework to be devised to recognise merit and good work for suitably rewarding functionaries at all levels of governance
  • Good officers and officials, particularly at the cutting age level, should be identified and groomed to hold higher responsibilities by enabling them to undergo relevant training programmes within and outside country
  • Special focus on solid waste management and garbage disposal; action plan for road safety, development of nurseries within state for development of high density apple plantations

Governor NN Vohra holds a meeting of the State Administrative Council at Raj Bhawan in Jammu.
Tribune News Service
Jammu, February 7

In a major decision, the State Administrative Council today announced that all government offices in Jammu and Kashmir would have an Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system by March 31.

The council met under the chairmanship of Governor NN Vohra for the first time after its constitution on February 4 at Raj Bhawan here.

It decided that all administrative secretaries would personally monitor the implementation of all state plan and centrally sponsored schemes with special focus on flagship schemes of the Government of India.

Keeping in view the ensuing closure of the financial year, the secretaries would ensure timely utilisation of funds available under various schemes.

They would ensure that utilisation certificates were timely forwarded to central authorities concerned. This would facilitate timely release of central scheme funding in the next financial year, the council decided.

It decided that the secretaries and department heads would undertake physical and financial monitoring of various programmes and the work being implemented on the ground.

The meeting was attended by Parvez Dewan and Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Advisers to the Governor; BR Sharma, Chief Secretary; and BB Vyas, Financial Commissioner, Planning and Development Department.

The Governor stressed the need to ensure punctuality and discipline in attending office by government functionaries and proper functioning of institutions, including schools, colleges, hospitals and ration shops.

“High priority must be given to ensuring that offices and institutions which are concerned with the delivery of public services run honestly and efficiently,” he said.

The council decided that the two Advisers and the Chief Secretary would identify all priority issues pending for decision and bring those before future meetings of the council.

The Governor stressed on the Advisers, Chief Secretary and Financial Commissioner to advise all administrative secretaries to pay attention to various issues requiring policy decisions and ensure timely processing for approval.

“Special emphasis will be laid on timely finalisation of SRO-43 cases and the basis of the policy underlying this order would be reviewed to identify if any other or supplementary approaches can be followed to meet the objective of compassionate support in all such cases,” the Governor said.

The SRO-43 is a scheme to provide immediate succour to the next of the kin of the deceased and mitigate hardships caused to the family due to loss of breadwinner.

The council said all necessary measures would be timely finalised for the conduct of elections to local bodies and panchayats.

It was decided that systematic attention would be given to ensure proper maintenance of official record and time-bound listing and digitalisation.

The Governor laid emphasis on timely dissemination and issuance of early warning being made by the Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment and the Indian Meteorological Department to people with regard to any extreme weather events.


The Governor stated that Divisional Commissioners, Inspector Generals of Police, Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police should remain alert and prepared to meet any emerging disaster situation.