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, April 4, 2016

9731 - Union Govt orders closure of Aadhaar centres in JK - Vreater Kashmir

Union Govt orders closure of Aadhaar centres in JK

Ignores State Govt plea for extension; 35 lakh people still to get ID

MUKEET AKMALI 
Srinagar, Publish Date: Apr 2 2016 10:21PM | Updated Date: Apr 2 2016 10:21PM


File Photo

Despite the centre government passing Aadhaar Bill making biometric identification of citizens mandatory for transferring subsidies, the Union Home Ministry has closed down all permanent Aadhaar enrolment centre’s in Jammu and Kashmir which is likely to hamper enrolment of left over population in the state.
The enrolment of citizens under Aadhaar in JK has been sluggish owing to various factors. As per sources, there are still around 35 lakh people out of total 1.25 crore odd souls in JK whose biometrics are yet to be enrolled and their details need to be sent to the Union Home Ministry’s Registrar General of India, for them to continue availing various schemes of the government.
The decision of the Union Home Ministry will imply that 344 Aadhaar enrolment centre established in tehsils and district headquarters of the state will be closed down as a result of which people whose Aadhaar cards have mistakes or need any rectification will have nowhere to go. Further, it would hamper the enrolment of left over population.

Officials said that the union government has taken the decision despite repeated pleas by the JK government seeking extension in operation of these centers.

“The agreement of the PECs contract with vendors is coming to end by 3lst March 2016 and State Coordinator has been asked, vide letter no. N-9/1/2016 from the Office of the Registrar General, Government of India, to direct all the respective Deputy Commissioners to take possession of all the hardware deployed at PECs like laptops, finger print scanners, web cam, which are the property of Office of Registrar General of India (Registration),” said a communiqué of IT department.
A senior IT department official said that the decision of the Union Home Ministry will affect Aadhaar enrolments. “Governor and Chief Secretary have already written to the Union Home Ministry seeking extension of Permanent Aadhaarcentres for citizens as the closure of these centres will have severe impact on the enrolments,” he said adding that however the centre government has not paid any heed to the pleas of the state government.

The official said that the biometric enrolment of people in JK was started late in comparison to other states and in this situation JK should have been provided extra time to operate the permanent Aadhaar centres.


The Lok Sabha last month cleared the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, as a Money Bill. The centre government would save crore of rupees by routing government subsidies through the unique identification or Aadhaar system now that it has statutory backing.
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