AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10111 - Centre to release water conservation report

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

Friday, June 10, 2016

10111 - Centre to release water conservation report - Business Standard

Centre to release water conservation report

rural development ministry to also seek more funds over and above Rs 38,500 crore allocated in 2016-17 Budget for such works

Sanjeeb Mukherjee | New Delhi

June 6, 2016 Last Updated at 23:49 IST

To ensure majority of the funds allocated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is spent on water conservation-related works, the Centre is planning to come out with a performance outcome report of such works done in 2015-16.

That apart, the rural development ministry is planning to approach the finance department for more funds over and above the Rs 38,500 crore allocated in the 2016-17 Budget for such works. Of this, around Rs 23,000 crore has already been released with the remaining to be exhausted soon.

NO DILUTION OF EFFORTS

Centre plans performance audit of water conservation under MNREGS
The audit report will be for FY16
Rural development ministry might need more funds for MNREGS
All MNREGS workers will be seeded with Aadhaar by August

“We might need another Rs 10,000 crore for FY17 for the works depending on the monsoon,” said a senior official. The outcome report, meanwhile, will list out the initiatives that states have taken towards building farm ponds, canals, bunds, revitalising traditional water resources, and other such projects. “This time around, we are not only asking for a financial performance appraisal from the states, but also want to know what work they have done with the annual MGNREGS funds, particularly in conservation of water, which is a priority area for the government,” said the official.

He said the report would be released by end-June, which will also enable the Centre to share the best practices with states ahead of the 2016 southwest monsoon. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his recent discussion with the chief ministers of 10 states on the prevailing drought-like situation, had called upon them to put extra focus on conservation of water during the coming monsoon season so that future water scarcities can be avoided. The Centre had earmarked a target of construction around 800,000 farm ponds in 2016-17 through MGNREGS. According to the official cited above, to smoothen the process of identification and disbursal of wages to MGNREGS workers, the Centre plans to seed all the MGNREGS job cards with Aadhaar numbers by August.

Till date, of the 105 million MGNREGS workers, around 68 million have their cards seeded with Aadhaar.

“All these will ensure there is timely payment of wages to MGNREGS workers,” the official added. A high-powered panel of experts constituted by the Centre had identified delayed wage payments under MGNREGS as a matter of grave concern, which is impacting the programme’s spirit. The panel submitted its report to the government recently. In MNREGS, Centre shares full cost of workers’ wages and 75 per cent of the material cost, while the states bear the remaining.