AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10472 - Aadhaar Act: what it means for you

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

Friday, September 30, 2016

10472 - Aadhaar Act: what it means for you - Live Mint

Last Modified: Thu, Sep 22 2016. 10 46 AM IST

Aadhaar Act: what it means for you

Aadhaar has received a legal backing to be used in social welfare schemes and to disburse subsidies as well

Uttaresh Venkateshwaran

Priyanka Parashar/Mint

With an intention to use Aadhaar for all government schemes, the Centre last week notified all sections, but one, of the Aadhaar, (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsides, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016. This means that Aadhaar has received a legal backing to be used in social welfare schemes and to disburse subsidies as well.

The Supreme Court had last year ruled that use of this system will not be mandatory and can only be extended to services like transfer of cooking gas subsidy, Jan Dhan Yojana, and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. The ambit has slowly increased as it is seen as a valid document in daily financial life as well.

If you don’t have an Aadhaar number yet, should you apply for one, as it looks set to become a key validation and verification document? Here’s a look at Aadhaar’s usage in availing financial services.

Use in transactions

Taxation: You can e-verify income tax returns with the help of Aadhaar. You need to link your Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) to the income tax department’s website with the help of a one-time password (OTP). However, it is important that the details such as name of the person on PAN and Aadhaar are same. Any difference, even in the spelling, may make it impossible to link the number. “It is not a mandatory element, but the government is looking to make the system more convenient for a taxpayer…from e-KYC to verification, Aadhaar will be a strong requirement to do business with the government,” said Archit Gupta, founder and chief executive officer, ClearTax.com, an online tax filing company.

According to the company, of the total number of e-verified income tax returns (ITRs) of 16.8 million this year with the tax department, around 7.77 million verifications were through the Aadhaar-PAN linked system.

Mutual funds: Aadhaar-based e-KYC has been facilitated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India for mutual funds. The procedure needs an OTP and Aadhaar. “There are some restrictions. If you do e-KYC through Aadhaar, you cannot make large-value investments due to limit of Rs 50,000 per year,” said Vishal Dhawan, founder and chief financial planner, Plan Ahead Wealth Advisors.

Banking: It is mandatory for customers to provide certain details to comply with know-your-customer (KYC) norms. To make this process paperless, the Reserve Bank of India had introduced Aadhaar-based e-KYC, which substitutes the need to submit multiple documents . Instead of giving separate proofs for ID and address, among others, a single document can replace all these requirements. To open a Jan Dhan Yojana account, one can simply use only Aadhaar as well. “It (Aadhaar) also helps in keeping track of the various schemes and programmes the government runs along with the beneficiaries,” said Adhil Shetty, chief executive officer and co-founder, Bankbazaar.com

Payments: Last week, there were reports that Aadhaar was going to be made mandatory to book railway e-tickets from December. A senior railway official, associated with the developments, clarified that it will not be in December. The Railways has been cracking down on fraudulent bookings with measures such as different timings for tatkal bookings, among others. Aadhaar-based booking may be a step in that direction.

What you should do

It would be prudent to apply and get an Aadhaar if you don’t have it already. You can visit the nearest enrolment centre along with proof documents and get your biometrics registered as well.

While not mandatory, experts recommend getting this card to benefit from smoother transactions.

Uttaresh Venkateshwaran