AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 9802 - AADHAR CARD BLUES - Why poor people in Delhi are desperate to get their babies uniquely identified

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, April 10, 2016

9802 - AADHAR CARD BLUES - Why poor people in Delhi are desperate to get their babies uniquely identified - Scroll.In

Sunday, April 10th 2016

AADHAR CARD BLUES

Why poor people in Delhi are desperate to get their babies uniquely identified

Delhi government continues to deny food rations to people without Aadhar cards, even though a Supreme Court order expressly prohibits this.

Image credit: Mayank Jain

Feb 26, 2015 · 08:30 am

Aarefa Johari and Mayank Jain

On the 15th of every month, thousands of slum residents in Sheikh Sarai in Delhi pour out of their tenements and head to the ration shops to pick up their share of subsidised grain. But in recent months, many have been coming back home without their full share.

This isn’t because the supplies in the shop are running thin. Rather, this has to do with the Delhi government’s insistence that people get themselves Aadhar cards, which assign a 12-digit unique identification number to each individual.

Although the Supreme Court in an order in March 2014 ruled that an Aadhar card or number cannot be made mandatory for citizens to avail of any social security service, the state government in Delhi continues to ask for it. Those who do not have Aadhar cards are being denied food rations.

Apart from being a violation of the court order, this has led to a curious trend in the slum at Sheikh Sarai. Families are lining up children, and in some cases, infants, outside Aadhar registration centres. “Even our youngest, five-month old baby has an Aadhar card now,” said Sheela, a matriarch heading a 17-member household of sons, daughter-in-laws and grandchildren.

A temporary fix

Since the Aadhar card is based on biometric data, children younger than five years are technically not ready for the procedure. Their iris and fingerprints aren’t fully formed. They would inevitably need new cards after the age of five.

So why are families desperate to get Aadhar cards for their children?

Until recently, food rations were given collectively to a family. But the National Food Security Act of 2013, popularly known as the Right to Food Act, has replaced family quotas with individual quotas. Under the new law, every member of a family that earns less than Rs 1 lakh a year is entitled to five kilos of rice and wheat a month at Rs 1 or Rs 2 a kilo.

Since Delhi government has linked Aadhar to food rations, it means every member of the family – including the children – need to get unique identification cards before they can qualify for the rations.

Geeta, a housewife from the Sheikh Sarai slum colony, has to feed her four children on the erratic income of her husband, a daily wage labourer who brings in Rs 100 or Rs 150 on a good day. Three of her children were not on the family ration card when the Right to Food Act was passed, so Geeta is unable to get subsidised rations for half the family.

“There is no hope for people like us. They ask us to get an Aadhar card first or get out,” said Geeta, who has been trying to get her three youngest children on the ration card for a year.