AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10086 - Civil Supplies to install biometric machines at 43 fair price shops

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

Saturday, June 4, 2016

10086 - Civil Supplies to install biometric machines at 43 fair price shops - Navhind Times

Civil Supplies to install biometric machines at 43 fair price shops

Posted by: nt June 1, 2016 in Goa News

NT NETWORK

PANAJI
In a bid to curb pilferage of foodgrains in the public distribution system (PDS), the Civil Supplies Department will be installing biometric system-based point of sales (POS) machines, on a pilot basis, from third week of June at 43 fair price shops, identified across the state.

There are around 450 government-controlled ration shops in the state, serving over 5.32 lakh households.

Around 43 fair price shops chosen, under the pilot project, for installing the POS machines will cover around 3,000 beneficiaries.

The department has purchased 50 POS machines from Hyderabad-based Electronics Corporation of India Ltd at a cost of Rs 12.50 lakh.

The department in association with Electronics Corporation of India Ltd will conduct a day-long training programme, on Wednesday, on machine operation for officials and the selected fair price shop owners.

The person approaching a PDS shop for purchasing ration has to give his 12 digit ration card number, and then register a thumb impression on the machine. It then authenticates the biometric details of the ration cardholder before generating the bill. The sim card-based machine also sends information to the central server so that there is no scope for pilferage. Moment a person gets ration at the shop, the data is immediately sent to the server and uploaded on the website. Thus the department gets real time details of ration sold in each fair price shop.

The data needed for the POS machines is being uploaded, and the process of feeding Aadhaar inputs is already done.

Through biometric authentication linked with Aadhaar (unique identity number), card holders can collect commodities which are weighed digitally.

“Once the machines are installed, authorities will get exact details of the items sold at ration shops and uncollected quota against each beneficiary. This initiative is aimed at curbing manual fudging with inventory records and later diverting the subsidised foodgrains in the open market by the ration shop owners,”said Civil Supplies director Vikas Gaunekar.

“There will be no scope for diversion of foodgrains by shop owners,” he said adding, based on the results and the experience of three months, the state government will install POS machines at other FPS by year-end.

“If everything goes according to the plan, then our next step would be to start portability so that a ration card holder can buy ration from any fair price shop in a particular constituency,” he added.