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

Monday, March 7, 2016

9411 - IT cos find biz opportunities in govt technology adoption- Deccan Herald

N V Vijayakumar Bengaluru. Mar 01, 2016, DHNS


Indian information technology (IT) companies are buoyed by the Union Budget 2016-17 plan to give emphasis to IT on a large scale for income tax filing/litigation, citizen-centric service delivery, agriculture and skill development.

Besides giving emphasis on building digital literacy massively, the government is planning to make the IT adoption in a bigger way across SMBs, land record modernisation, Aadhaar adoption, procurement platforms, etc.

Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said this is an opportune time for Indian IT companies. “Linking social security benefits to Aadhaar will plug leakages and increase efficiency. Also, the government’s decision to start 1,500 multi-skill centres is a good beginning to enhance IT skills through out the country. We would urge the government to move forward at a swift pace and build an effective PPP model,” he said.

Tata Consultancy Services CEO N Chandrasekaran said the extension of the SEZ scheme till 2020 and reduced tax at 10 per cent for global revenues generated by India-registered IPR will further energise IT companies and entrepreneurship.

“Jaitley has announced a slew of digital platforms to connect farmers with their ecosystem. This is a very comprehensive technology-led plan that will significantly bootstrap the Indian heartland into the digital age,” he said.

Wipro CFO Jatin Dalal said the Finance Minister has balanced the investment needs of a growth economy with commitments on fiscal discipline. “The Budget focuses on investment in infrastructure and social sectors, while attempting to widen the tax base. The measures announced for the rural economy should boost productivity and incomes leading to growth in consumption,” he said. “I applaud the efforts to increase the use of technology in e-governance, as well as steps taken towards digital Inclusion. I welcome the special patent regime which will encourage research and lead to generation of intellectual property in India,” he said.

“The government focus on bringing Aadhaar framework through Social Security Platform would require technology support, and we have the capabilities as well,” IESA President M N Vidyashankar told Deccan Herald. “The entire transformation of citizenship identity to a uniform platform has brought lots of cheer to the IT ecosystem. The government’s focus on agriculture will bring an accelerated pace to the growth of tech companies,” he said.

Recently, Infosys has bagged a Rs 1,380-crore contract from the Centre to build technology infrastructure for Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

FreeCharge COO Govind Rajan said the government’s proposal to automate three lakh fair price shops is a great step towards the overall Digital This move will further open up the scope for automation of payments at fair price shops by embracing new forms of digital payments like wallets,” he said.

Labour analysts say the decision to extend Section 80 JJAA will help IT sector. The provision gives rebates to the company for paying additional wages to new regular workmen employed during the previous three years.

According to a recent survey, total revenue (exports and domestic) of the Indian IT-BPM sector for 2015-16 is expected to touch $143 billion, registering a growth of 8.3 per cent over the previous year. But the IDC survey cautions that due to the growing economic slump in global spending on IT, which has grown by about 5% or 6% consistently for the last five years, is due to grow by only 2%.

Besides dual levies on software products, analysts find that the budget did not address transfer pricing issues related to safe harbour margins and APA roll back rules.