AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10298 - Ten services made easier by Aadhaar

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, August 14, 2016

10298 - Ten services made easier by Aadhaar - Live Mint

Tue, Aug 02 2016. 04 55 PM IST

Ten services made easier by Aadhaar

Aadhaar ensures easy access to various government services and social security programmes

Komal Gupta / Suranjana Roy

The e-hospital service allows a resident to book an appointment using the Aadhaar card in AIIMS or any other government hospital online. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: More than one billion Indians now have Aadhaar cards, almost six years after the first Aadhaar card was issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Backed by a legislation and with 85% coverage, Aadhaar is here to stay.

Though Aadhaar is not mandatory, it ensures easy access to various government services and social security programmes. Mint looks at a few areas where Aadhaar is making life easy for Indians.

Property transactions

Property transactions have gone cashless, paperless and even presence-less in Maharashtra. So a homeowner renting out a property in Mumbai can go to www.igrmaharashtra.gov.in, fill in his bank account, Aadhaar and biometric details (fingerprint, iris recognition etc.) along with digital signatures and property documents. The tenant along with the sub-registrar and the witness can also do the same, not necessarily at the same point of time. The fees will be paid electronically; all documents will be stored in the Aadhaar-operated digital locker which eliminates the need of physical presence in Mumbai.

Healthcare

Aadhaar can also help in exchanging data about patients not just across internal systems of the provider network but also with other laboratories and pharmacies.

The e-hospital service is now available, which allows a resident to book an appointment using the Aadhaar card in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences or any other government hospital online.

Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh is setting an example by using Aadhaar to track absenteeism of doctors and nurses, using biometric markers.

Temple rituals

Recently, the administration in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple, one of the largest and richest places of religious worship in India, made Aadhaar mandatory for booking the much sought-after ritual known as angapradakshinam. This is done to make sure that the same person is not using the facility repeatedly. The demand is huge, whereas the tickets are limited

Scholarship

It has been made mandatory for all college students to have Aadhaar cards. In case any student wants to get a scholarship or fellowship from either the state government or the University Grant Commission (UGC), then she must possess the Aadhaar card issued by the UIDAI.

DigiLocker

One of the key initiatives under the Digital India Programme, DigiLocker is aimed at minimizing the usage of physical documents and enabling sharing of e-documents across agencies. Aadhaar details need to be updated by citizens, after creation of the account, to avail of additional services. Residents can also upload their electronic documents and digitally sign them using the e-sign facility. These digitally signed documents can be shared with government organizations or other entities.

Mutual funds

Investors can use an Aadhaar-based e-KYC (know-your-customer) for investment in mutual funds. The investor is required to add the Aadhaar number and registered mobile number and enter the one-time password (OTP) for Aadhaar authentication, after which he or she is required to upload a self-attested copy of e-Aadhaar. Upon verification with UIDAI database, the investor is e-KYC verified and can carry out transactions in mutual funds.

Pension schemes

eNPS enables a subscriber to open an account with the National Pension System (NPS) sitting at home. All he needs is an internet connection and an Aadhaar or Permanent Account Number (PAN) card. This facility is now available for non-resident Indians (NRIs) as well.

The Central government has already made Aadhaar card compulsory for all Central government pensioners, encouraging them to seed their bank accounts with Aadhaar card numbers.

Income tax returns

The income tax department allows residents to e-verify income tax returns using Aadhaar, eliminating the need to send a physical signed income tax return form to the central processing centre. All that the user needs to do is link his/her Aadhaar number to their respective e-filing account. Once this is done, the Aadhaar number will be linked to their PAN after validation through a one-time password.

Transport

Having an Aadhaar card is mandatory for all road transport authority transactions in Andhra Pradesh like vehicle registration certificates, learning licence, permanent driving licence and change of ownership of the vehicle since July 2015.

Telangana has also linked Aadhaar card with every transaction in the transport department to curb increasing malpractices in the registration of vehicles, issuance of driving licences and irregularities committed by vehicle owners. The card has also been linked to financial institutions for getting and releasing loans.

Insurance

Insurance products will soon be available on the digital platform through e-commerce websites, according to the recent draft by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). e-KYC can be done using e-Aadhaar or by National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) using the e-PAN facility. The draft talks about a mandatory e-insurance account that individuals have to maintain for online purchase of a product.

Komal GuptaSuranjana Roy