AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10066 - Government likely to pit DBT savings against UPA scam figures in 2019 general election

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

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

10066 - Government likely to pit DBT savings against UPA scam figures in 2019 general election - Economic Times

Government likely to pit DBT savings against UPA scam figures in 2019 general election

By Aman Sharma, ET Bureau | 30 May, 2016, 06.06AM IST

PM Modi is not likely to be content with the Rs 36,500 crore savings figure cited by him on Saturday at the event to celebrate the government’s two-year anniversary.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not likely to be content with the Rs 36,500 crore savings figure cited by him on Saturday at the event to celebrate the government's two-year anniversary. Before the next general election in 2019, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is aiming for an even higher figure to juxtapose against the quantum of money allegedly involved in scams under the previous United Progressive Alliance government.

This will involve eliminating bogus beneficiaries of welfare payments through the use of the Aadhaar ID system , it was decided at a review meeting chaired by the Prime Minister on May 9, senior PMO officials told ET. Aadhaar will be used to ensure that benefits go to the right people under the Public Distribution System (PDS) along the lines of the success in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Full Aadhaar coverage will do the same for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme ( MGNREGS ).

All 21 crore Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts will be seeded with the Aadhaar number to make them "transaction active." Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) cells will be set up in all central ministries and states to bring all cash or in-kind subsidy schemes under this system.

"PMO is monitoring progress of these issues on top priority every fortnight," an official said. The bulk of the savings so far— Rs 21,672 crore in 2014 and 2015—have accrued from weeding out 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries under the LPG Pahal scheme, the official said.

"The PDS and MGNREGS have lots of scope for more savings when they are entirely covered by Aadhaar based payment system. Right now, savings under PDS and MGNREGS are only Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 3,000 cr, respectively, as the Aadhaar-based PDS is being implemented comprehensively in only two big states— Andhra and Telanagana—while MGNREGS cards have only 60% Aadhaar seeding. It is possible to hit the Rs 1 lakh crore figure with these two expansions," the official said. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have rolled out Aadhaar-based PDS across all districts.

"The PDS savings here have been an eye-opener for policy makers at the Centre. For example, Andhra Pradesh has removed 8.58 lakh bogus ration cards and 69.18 lakh beneficiaries through Aadhaar-based PDS across all 28,600 fair price shops, saving 403,142 MTs of rice and 5,000 litres of kerosene per annum," a top official said.

Apart from this, 6.54 lakh bogus pension beneficiaries have been removed, leading to annual savings of Rs 541 crore, while Telangana has eliminated 75.14 lakh ghost PDS beneficiaries, On May 23, the rural development ministry wrote to all states asking them to ensure 100% Aadhaar seeding in all 11 crore MGNREGS accounts through special camps by August and to keep the Centre informed of progress. On May 12, the cabinet secretariat wrote to states and ministries asking for internal DBT Cells to be set up by ministries and states to coordinate implementation of the system in various central schemes.

"DBT programme has now gathered momentum and its scope extended to schemes where cash benefits are provided to individuals, in-kind transfers as well as transfers made to various enablers of government schemes," said the letter accessed by ET.

The government is also pushing public sector and private sector banks to seed the PMJDY accounts with Aadhaar so that they are enabled to receive DBT benefits. Though Aadhaar was the primary know your-customer ( KYC ) document for opening a PMJDY account, only 9.32 crore of the 21 crore accounts opened so far under are linked to Aadhaar.

"Though the same is voluntary, people will be encouraged to seed their bank accounts with Aadhaar given the benefits of the exercise," said an official, adding that 97% of the adult population has been enrolled.