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, March 27, 2016

9663 - Editorial: Reorganising babus - Financial Express


Won’t help much unless accompanied by good policy

By: The Financial Express | March 25, 2016 12:08 AM

Given how bureaucratic lethargy kills off even the best plans/schemes, the government has done well to think about reorganising the bureaucracy around its flagship schemes like Make-in-India, Jan Dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat, Digital India and Skill India. According to a report in The Economic Times, at least one in five bureaucrats at the Centre will work for the top priority schemes and, if need be, outsiders will be roped in as well. Just the difference a Nandan Nilekani made to the Aadhaar programme—it would probably not have taken off without him—makes it obvious just how important it is to get talented outsiders to work in the government system.

But getting the flagship programmes to work better will require more than mere reorganising of the bureaucracy. In the case of the Jan Dhan Yojana, for instance, though the scheme was launched in January 2013 as a game-changer, the government managed to disburse just R44,000 crore subsidies and entitlements through it in FY15—in FY16, R20,139 crore had been disbursed till October 2015—and the major part of this was LPG subsidies. While the effort in doing this has been commendable, moving to food and other subsidies will require working with the states to ensure the names in their SECC list are seeded with Aadhaar numbers. Getting the states’ cooperation may then require not just better coordination but also building in an incentive for them. And for DBT to really deliver—to help reduce the wastage of thousands of crore of rupees due to excessive procurement and stocking in FCI—the government will need to take policy action and decide that subsidies will be given in the form of cash, not wheat and rice.

Similarly, in the case of Make-in-India, less red-tape is welcome, but a two-year delay of the sort we saw in the case of bringing gas prices to near-market levels has ensured that no investment took place in exploration for two years—prices have been raised now, but with global oil/gas environment nowhere as rosy, even this may not enthuse investors; similarly, no decision has been taken for years on extending the licence of explorers like Cairn for the Barmer fields. Digital India, similarly, suffered a big setback with the government delaying putting more spectrum on the block —this ensured auction bids skyrocketed—and there has still been no action when it comes to lowering annual levies on the telecom sector. The arbitrary price controls on Bt cotton seeds, similarly, frightens investors as does the lack of action on the retrospective taxation, including the demand notices given to Vodafone and Cairn while arbitration is still on. Administrative tightening is very important if India is to grow, but it cannot be a substitute for sensible policy.