AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10424 - Centre working on an alternative to direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers

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

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

10424 - Centre working on an alternative to direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers - Hindu Business line

Centre working on an alternative to direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers

SURABHI

Farmers will be identified using a mix of their Aadhaar number, soil health card and land records

This is for better identification of beneficiaries and providing them with the right mix of nutrients

NEW DELHI, SEPTEMBER 11:

Moving away from its initial plan for direct cash benefit transfer (DBT) of fertiliser subsidy to farmers, the government is now considering a two pronged approach — while the subsidy payment will continue at the producer level, farmers will be identified using a mix of their Aadhaar number, soil health card and land records.

This is aimed at better identification of beneficiaries and providing them with the right mix and quantity of nutrients. The sales of fertiliser will be made through point of sale machines to prevent leakages and ensure that actual sales are made, in a way akin to DBT in kind, like in the case of food subsidy. “The fertiliser subsidy will not be in the lines of direct benefit transfer in cooking gas at the retail level. Instead, the idea is to identify the farmer and his land and allocate the right amount and kind of fertiliser depending on his land record and soil fertility,” said an official familiar with the development.

Pilot study

A pilot study has already been conducted successfully in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh and similar studies are now being carried out in 16 districts across the country before it is rolled out on a larger scale.

The Department of Fertilisers is said to be working on the project for which districts including Kishanganj (Bihar), Malda (West Bengal), Hosangabad (Madhya Pradesh), Karnal and Kurukshetra (Haryana), Krishna and West Godavari (Andhra Pradesh) and Nasik (Maharashtra) have been identified.

“In the case of fertiliser subsidy, it is not always possible to pay at the retail level as identification of marginal or landless farmers is difficult. In such cases, or those where bank details are not available, how to transfer the subsidy in their accounts is the main challenge,” said the official.

Pointing to the success of DBT in LPG, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in the Union Budget 2016-17 announced that the government would also “introduce DBT on pilot basis for fertiliser in a few districts across the country, with a view to improve the quality of service delivery to farmers”.

For 2016-17, the Budget has also pegged the fertiliser subsidy at ₹70,000 crore, lower than the Revised Estimate of ₹72,437.58 crore for last fiscal.

Time for implementation

Officials however, cautioned that a cross country implementation of the proposal could take at least one year as it will require giving soil health cards to all 14 crore farmers as well as seeding land records with the Aadhar numbers.

“The IT infrastructure is yet to be created. Enrolments for soil health cards are already going on while seeding with Aadhar number is also to be done,” said another official.

In the interim, the government is hopeful that neem coating urea will reduce distortions and improve targeting of beneficiaries as it will be difficult to divert the fertiliser for industrial use.

(This article was published on September 11, 2016)