AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9360 - Child Care Database to go Online in Bengaluru

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

Sunday, February 14, 2016

9360 - Child Care Database to go Online in Bengaluru - New Indian Express

Child Care Database to go Online in Bengaluru

By Express News Service

Published: 13th February 2016 04:54 AM

BENGALURU: To monitor Child Care Institutions, the District Child Protection Unit Bengaluru has come up with a design for an extensive online database.

As part of this, the NGOs are required to furnish all the background information of their institution and of the children staying under their protection.

This will be hosted on the official website of the DWCD. Not just this, they will be required to update the information every three months.

The crucial part of this feature is that it mandates the child care institutions to provide information on where they have sourced the children from and who are the people approaching the institution with children. This would help them bust trafficking of children.

District Child Protection Officer Divya Narayanappa told Express that the identity of the children would be protected and the online database would not be accessible to general public.

Each institution will be given a key to access their file and update it regularly. Only the DCPU officials will have access to it.

Aadhaar Enrolment

Another measure being adopted to keep track of children is to secure Aadhaar numbers for them. Last year, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) began a drive for giving Aadhaar numbers to children in government homes. DCPU officials said all the children in government homes had secured Aadhaar numbers and now they were extending the same facility to all the CCIs. So far, enrollment for Aadhaar has begun in 22 CCIs in the city and it would be extended to more.

Pan India tracking

The Centre has initiated a pan-India exercise to track orphanages and identify children staying in these institutions. Under the guidance of Childline India Foundation, the Integrated Child Protection Scheme wing in the Department of Women and Child Development is monitoring the programme in State. According to the officials, letters have been issued in this regard to every district and the survey would begin soon.

Need for Orphanage Concept Questioned

The question, “Why do we need the concept of an orphanage?” itself is up for debate. Many people who find it altruistic opine that it is time to redefine the concept. Vasudeva Sharma, Executive Director of city-based NGO Child Rights Trust told Express that until recently people did not ask many questions about orphanages as it was assumed that it was done for a social cause. “People used to fund them. Slowly some people have started using it for self-centered purposes,” he said.

Further, the general consensus among child rights activists and officials is that there are no “orphans”-- the extended family is always around. More importantly, activists say that a majority of the children in orphanages have parents. Gopinath of Sparsha Trust said that in two decades of his experience in the field, he has not met more than 25 children, who do not have anyone to fall back on. This prompts another question: Are orphanages required? Here, Sharma emphasised on the importance of child care institutions. “There is a need for these institutions. However, the accommodation should not be for an indefinite period but only until the children are safely repatriated to their family and surroundings,” he said.