AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10124 - Govt goes after ghost ration card network to check leakage of foodgrain

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, June 12, 2016

10124 - Govt goes after ghost ration card network to check leakage of foodgrain - India Today

Govt goes after ghost ration card network to check leakage of foodgrain

Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, said leakage of grains was prevalent in the UPA regime due to bogus ration cards and corruption in the department.

Kumar Vikram | Posted by Bijaya Kumar Das

New Delhi, June 10, 2016 | UPDATED 09:31 IST

Deleting about 1.62 crore bogus ration cards and streamlining the public distribution system in the country have saved around Rs 10,000 crore of public money in last two years of the Narendra Modi government.

RAM VILAS PASWAN BLAMES UPA

Ram Vilas Paswan, minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, said leakage of grains were prevalent in the UPA regime due to bogus ration cards and corruption in the department. "Now, this has stopped after 100 per cent digitisation of ration cards. During the process of digitisation, we found crores of bogus ration cards. There were many ration cards on the name of one person. Similarly, in some cases, there were ration cards on the names of people who do not even exist. We found total 1.62 crore such bogus ration cards which have been deleted now," said the minister.

Digitisation of ration cards has been completed in all the states. The number of states and union territories with online foodgrain allocations increased to 25, from 5 in June 2014, and the online grievance redressal has now been introduced by all the states.

SEEDING OF RATION CARDS WITH AADHAAR CARDS

Moreover, Aadhaar seeding of ration cards has also been of great help to beneficiaries. "So far, about 56 per cent of ration cards have been seeded with Aadhaar. All these digitisation and seeding with Aadhaar have helped check the leakage of foodgrain and in saving `10,000 crore of public money," said Paswan.

While most of the states have completed seeding of ration cards with the Aadhaar cards, states like Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, UP and a few others are behind in this exercise.

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CONGRESS COUNTERS CLAIM

Countering the claim, Abhishek Manu Singhvi said UPA had also weeded out a large number of bogus ration cards and there is nothing great about it. "Actually 66 lakh so-called fake deletions include those cards which are not fake but where the person has moved from the eligibility to beyond eligibility.

So, that is not a fake card, even that is included in 66 lakhs. What is great about it? A press release in December 2015 said in 2012 to 2014, 1.2 crore ration cards were deleted by the UPA government. I do not know how to drumbeat."

'DEPOT ONLINE' SYSTEM LAUNCHED

To check the leakage of foodgrain from the FCI godowns, all operations of the godowns have been brought on the online platform, claimed Paswan. "To check leakage and to automate operations at the depot level, the 'Depot Online' system has been launched in 31 depots on pilot basis across 27 states," he said.

On rising prices of commodities, Paswan said the price monitoring cell (PMC) in the department of consumer affairs is tasked with monitoring the prices of 22 essential commodities. Based on the retail and wholesale prices collected from 89 designated centres, price reports of these items on daily basis are released.

To control the rising prices, in 2015-16, Rs 00 crore was allocated for the price stabilisation fund which was subsequently raised to Rs 10 crore. For the financial year 2016-17, an allocation of Rs 00 crore has been made.