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

Monday, July 18, 2016

10168 - Dr Jitendra Singh says all Central Ministries & Departments to be linked to the online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System Bhavishya soon - Business Standard

Dr Jitendra Singh says all Central Ministries & Departments to be linked to the online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System Bhavishya soon

Delhi 
June 27, 2016 Last Updated at 00:21 IST



Dr Jitendra Singh says all Central Ministries & Departments to be linked to the online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System Bhavishya soon 

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS (IC) for Youth Affairs and Sports, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh has said all Central Ministries and Departments will be linked to the online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System Bhavishya very soon. Chairing the 28th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) here today, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that with this step, the pension release to the retired employees will be expedited and it will also help quick resolution of pending issues. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh said we need to put in place an institutionalized mechanism to make good use of the knowledge, experience and efforts of the retired employees which can help in the value addition to the current scenario. India has a large number of pensioners today and to make best use of them is a challenge, he added. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the retired employees are a healthy and productive workforce for India and we need to streamline and channelize their energies in a productive direction. We should learn from the pensioners experience, he added. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the Government has started Anubhav scheme for the retiring employees to write an account of their experiences which can be helpful in improving the system. He also said that a focused approach and emphatic attitude needs to be developed towards the pensioners. 

Earlier, the Secretary, Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare and Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Shri C. Viswanath directed that all the Pension Payment Order (PPOs) should be digitized. The 28th SCOVA meeting was attended by the member Pensioners Associations and senior officers of the important Ministries/Departments of Government of India. 

The Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare has taken various initiatives for the welfare of the pensioners. The online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System Bhavishya has introduced transparency and accountability into the pension sanction and payment process, thereby helping eliminate delays and bring satisfaction to the retiring employees and pensioners. The system keeps retiring employees and administration informed of the progress of pension sanction process through SMS/e-mail. In the year 2015-16, the scheme has been scaled up and will eventually cover all 9,000 Drawing & Disbursal Offices (DDOs) in the country. 

Sankalp is an initiative for motivating retiring employees and pensioners to take up voluntary work after retirement so as to channelize their experience and skill towards productive work for society and nation building. The Department has so far registered 1,812 Pensioners, 16 Organisations and 19 Pensioners Associations under this project. Some Pensioners Associations have done exemplary work under the initiative. 

Anubhav was launched in February, 2015 on the direction of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. This initiative is to showcase the outstanding work done by retiring employee that contributed to the efficiency, economy and effectiveness in Government functioning. It is envisaged that over a period of time this will create a wealth of information, institutional memory and innovative ideas and will motivate employees. 

Jeevan Pramaan is a facility created for submission of Aadhaar based digital life certificate. This scheme was initiated by the Prime Minister on November 10, 2014. This scheme provides an excellent facility for the benefit of pensioners to submit their digital life certificate from the comfort of their homes. The Pensioners Associations are actively involved in motivating their fellow pensioners to get their pension accounts seeded with Aadhaar Number. Due to continuous efforts, as on date around 34 lakh i.e 71% of Central Government pensioners have seeded their bank accounts with Aadhaar Numbers
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