AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 10717 - Government committee lists digital measures to cut cash usage

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, January 20, 2017

10717 - Government committee lists digital measures to cut cash usage - Economic Times

Government committee lists digital measures to cut cash usage

By ET Bureau | Dec 13, 2016, 06.32 AM IST

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The government has been pitching for a less-cash economy after it demonetised old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8.

NEW DELHI: You could be charged for cash usage if the government accepts the recommendation of a panel set up to suggest ways to encourage digital payments but then you will also be able to pay equally easily using your mobile and Aadhaar-based systems.

A committee, headed by former finance secretary Ratan Watal, has suggested a 30-90 days’ timeline for implementing a number of measures that it hopes can cut in half India’s cash usage from 12% of GDP in three years.

The committee has suggested an independent mechanism within the overall central banking structure, and amendments in the payments and settlement laws and disincentive for cash usage among host of other measures to help shift towards a less cash society.

The government has been pitching for a less-cash economy after it demonetised old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8.

“The situation needs to be reviewed from the perspective of an ordinary Indian – Why Digital? For all its inefficiencies, cash offers instant settlement, 24x7 up-time, familiarity and an illusionof zero transaction cost,” the committee has said while calling for a cost to cash usage and creating awareness and transparency on cost of cash.

The committee has pitched for greater use of Aadhaar and mobile numbers for making digital payments as easy as cash. “Mobile number and Aadhaar-based fully inter-operable payments should be prioritized,” the committee has suggested while calling for inter-operable payments between bank and non-banks as well as within non-banks.

To give the entire digital payments effort a focused boost, in its most significant recommendation it has proposed to make regulation of payments independent from the function of central banking.

The Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) can be given an independent statutory status within the overall structure of the RBI and called Payments Regulatory Board, the committee has suggested. The BPSS currently functions as a sub-committee of the Central Board of RBI.

The committee has called for amendments to the Payments and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to provide for this board apart from giving an explicit mandate for competition and innovation, open access and interoperability, consumer protection, regulations on systemic risks and data protection.

It has suggested encouragement to digital payments within the government, a suggestion that has already rolled out with government prescribing thresholds and waiving charges. A ‘DIPAYAN’ fund is proposed from savings generated from cashless transactions to expand digital payments along with a ranking of states, government departments, districts and panchayats to encourage digital payments.

Operations of payment systems like Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Fund Transafer (NEFT) could be outsourced after a cost benefit analysis. These payment systems should be upgraded to 24x7 in due course of time, the committee has suggested.