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

Saturday, January 21, 2017

10739 - Pay tuition fees online, canteen payments through PayTm: Varsities in Gujarat to go cashless - Business Standard

Pay tuition fees online, canteen payments through PayTm: Varsities in Gujarat to go cashless

CEPT University is also going cashless for students in availing campus facilities
Vinay Umarji  |  Ahmedabad 
December 15, 2016 Last Updated at 09:45 IST

Now, students at Vishwakarma Government Engineering College (VGEC) need not worry about paying late library submission fees through cash. VGEC is one of the several colleges affiliated to Gujarat Technological University (GTU), which is on its way to become completely cashless.

Post November 8, since the demonetisation kicked in, cash crunch along with government's push for a cashless economy, varsities in Gujarat are on a mission mode to digitalise all kinds of payments. Colleges affiliated to GTU have been working with leading banks for taking multiple steps to push for cashless transactions.

For instance, while tuition fees are being accepted online since last two years, petty cash transactions such as penalty payments, library fees and other administration fees are now being accepted through payment kiosks being set up within the campuses. Moreover, canteens, which are mostly run on third party contracts, have also been equipped with point of sales (PoS) card readers by banks, apart from being encouraged to use Paytm and other mobile payment gateways by the university affiliated colleges.

"We accept all tuition fees online since two years. Honorarium for exams and paper checking to faculty is also through RTGS. Some of the colleges also pay salaries online. However, after demonetisation, SBI Gateway kiosks have been put up which has a payment gateway for payment of smaller cash transactions such as penalty, library fee, etc. We have asked canteens to go for Paytm while SBI and other banks are setting up PoS there," said Rajul Gajjar, officiating vice-chancellor of GTU. The varsity has in all 440 colleges affiliated to it, of which 12 are government colleges, 34 are polytechnic institutes and rest are self-financed colleges.

Similarly, CEPT University is also going cashless for students in availing campus facilities. The varsity, which began as a standalone architecture and urban planning institute, has now introduced a smart identity card for the students which will enable them to use it has a cash card. The card can be utilised at several facilities in the campus, including the canteen, stationary and printing, and can be recharged through cheque payment.

According to Ganesh Devkar, Director of Student Service Office and professor at CEPT University, every facility at the campus including canteens and libraries will have a card reader. The new cashless system will be launched on January 9, 2017.

"The initiative of introducing this card was taken in the interest of the students. It is a smart card and a multipurpose one. The RIFD code in the card helps the students to utilise for facilities in the campus like canteen, stationary and printing purposes. The students have to issue a cheque in the name of the university and the amount will get reflected in the card. The concept of the smart card was conceived a few months ago, but in the present scenario of cash crunch this facility has been a help for the students, especially those who are from other parts of the country," said Devkar. The varsity has over 1500 students, apart from faculty and staff.

GTU is also conducting a drive to link Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts of students and faculty members alike for the digitisation process.

"As GTU is made up of 95 per cent technical students, the university has decided to spread cashless awareness in such a way that each student gives proper understanding to 20 families. Senior officials from SBI, ICICI, HDFC and PayTm guided principals about latest techniques, apps and its uses for a cashless transaction," Gajjar added.

The varsity is also going to introduce DigiLocker system, which will also link Aadhaar number of students to enable them to use their mark sheets or transcripts through a simple login ID from anywhere in the world. According to GTU, all colleges are expected to prepare Aadhaar cards of all students within a month.

Varsities in Gujarat to go cashless

- Online payment of fees, RTGS for honorarium fees

- Internet kiosks for students for paying smaller amounts such as exam fees

- PoS being set up by banks at canteens, other utilities

- RFID enabled smart cards for students


- Drive to link Aadhaar and bank accounts of students, faculty
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