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, May 1, 2016

9874 - Punjab plans to spend 3541.73 crore on Flagship Education Schemes this year - Punjab Express

Punjab plans to spend 3541.73 crore on Flagship Education Schemes this year

April 21, 2016 04:44 PM

Punjab News Express

 CHANDIGARH : State of Punjab today finalized plan to spend Rs. 3541 crore on flagship education schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rasthriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan( RMSA) ,Mid-day Meal scheme. Approval for Annual Work Plan/ Budget for these flagship schemes for year 2016-17 was accorded during the Executive Committee meeting of these schemes held under the chairmanship of Mr. Sarvesh Kaushal, Chief Secretary Punjab.

Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme, Rs. 1770.96 crore are planned to be spent on various component of the schemes including Rs. 541 crore on teachers’ salary, Rs. 344 crore on Additional classrooms, Rs. 200 crore on civil works, Rs. 64.69 crores on Toilets and Drinking water, Rs. 160 crore on Academic Support, Rs. 63 crore on Computer Aided learning, Rs. 64 crore on uniforms.

It was decided to issue children school uniform specifications to all the schools for final procurement. The services of Punjabi University Patiala shall be used to analyze the State Level Achievement Survey (SLAS) report and to suggest the future plans to Education department. Chief Secretary was informed that department has developed websites namely ssapunjab.org and epunjabschool.gov.in wherein all the information related to education department is uploaded. Various applications like SSA, RMSA, MDM monitoring, Grievance disposal, Health check up monitoring system etc are hosted on these websites and Applications are being developed for mobile governance in department.

SCERT has been entrusted with the work to prepare syllabus for introduction of digital knowledge in primary classes. All 418 Inclusive Education Resource Teachers, 15644 Primary and upper school teachers and 150 Master trainers have been trained on teaching children with different type of disabilities. During the next year, it has been planned to open one residential school with all special education facilities.

Under RMSA scheme, Rs. 1422 crore shall be spent across the State including Rs. 152 crore on Additional classrooms, 47 integrated science labs, 66 libraries, 87 Art & Craft rooms, 535 toilets, teachers’ salaries of upgraded schools and meritorious schools, Rs. 322 crore on ICT, Rs. 20 crore on Inclusive Education, Rs. 33 crore on Girls hostels and Rs. 240 crore on vocational education. Some of the last year achievements included completion of 236 upgraded schools, 964 Additional classrooms, 1114 integrated science labs, 1725 libraries. School Management System has been implemented in all 90 proposed schools of the State. 

Under Mid-day meal scheme the plan to spend Rs. 348.33 crore was approved to be submitted to Government of India. The plan included mid-day meal to 9, 81,887 primary students and 7, 06,507 upper primary students. The total plan cost included Rs. 209 crore on cooking cost, Rs. 59 crore on cooks’ honorarium, Rs. 26 crore on cost of food grains etc. Software has been developed for sending advance messages to school in-charges and students regarding the visit of Health teams. 19508 schools have been visited by the health check-up teams.

Chief Secretary directed the department to send utilization certificates of all the funds spent to Government of India so that the next year funds can be received on time. He further directed the DGSE to run school level campaigns to complete the Aadhaar enrolment of the students. The integration of Aadhaar with various schemes shall result in elimination of bogus students if any especially in Mid-day meal scheme
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