AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10394 - How Aadhaar is mandatory for minority students scholarships: HC

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, September 11, 2016

10394 - How Aadhaar is mandatory for minority students scholarships: HC - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, September 7, 2016

How Aadhaar is mandatory for minority students scholarships: HC

Delhi High Court today asked the Centre how it could make Aadhaar card mandatory for students from minority communities to apply for various scholarships meant to benefit them.

The court issued a notice to the Centre and asked it to file a reply to the plea which claimed the policy of making Aadhaar card mandatory for applying for pre-matric, post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships meant to benefit students from minority communities was “arbitrary”.

“Why is this kind of instruction being issued? How can you (Centre) say that Aadhaar is mandatory? You take notice and the concerned officer shall file the reply by September 23,” a bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said.

The PIL, filed by West Bengal-based Nasimuddin educational and charitable trust, has alleged that the policy was arbitrary and discriminatory as it benefited only those having Aadhaar cards.

Challenging the constitutional validity of the need for Aadhaar card and applying online for the scholarships, the plea alleged that it was a violation of Supreme Court’s judgement which had said that Aadhaar would not be mandatory for availing benefits of government’s welfare schemes.

The plea said that Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis) have been notified as minority communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

It claimed that the policy of “compelling” students to apply through online process “smacks of non-application of mind since the students most in need of scholarship might not have access to computer, internet or the requisite knowledge of online application”.

The petition, filed through advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, referred to the July 14, 2016 communication of the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) which had asked the chief secretary or administrators of the states to advertise for the various national scholarships of the ministry.

It said the letter had asked the states to make Aadhar card mandatory for all students to apply for scholarships and also to apply only through the online process.

“Many students belonging to non-affluent families do not have online facilities or the means to avail the scholarships through online means. Similarly, many students do not have Aadhaar cards,” the plea said.

“Such a rule forcing a student to apply only online and compulsorily submitting Aadhaar card is unconstitutional, arbitrary, unjust and violates Article 14 of Constitution,” the plea said.

It has sought setting aside of the July 14 communication besides a direction to the government to allow students to apply for national scholarships through offline means.