AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11059 - Aadhaar drive flops, kids may not get grants, scholarship

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, April 18, 2017

11059 - Aadhaar drive flops, kids may not get grants, scholarship - TNN

Aadhaar drive flops, kids may not get grants, scholarship

Anjaya Anparthi | TNN | Updated: Apr 16, 2017, 11.12 AM IST

Nagpur: The state government's drive to enrol children below 6 years of age under Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identification number, has flopped leaving Aadhaar-less kids in dilemma.

The new and around 20% of existing students of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and aided schools will not get various types of grants and also scholarship if they do not have Aadhaar cards from the new academic session. Also, children without Aadhaar are set to face problems in admission.

The government in association with the NMC commenced the drive on November 27, 2016. The plan was to enrol first Aadhaar-less NMC students followed by those from aided and private schools. Then the drive was to cover all children below 6 years of age.

A senior NMC official told TOI that the drive stopped after the registration of 1,067 NMC students. "NMC was asked to provide data of students without Aadhaar and also space in the schools along with a plan to cover all students in phased manner. Accordingly, NMC set up centres in 44 schools. The government did not provide manpower and infrastructure at all centres. Only few centres could start the drive. 5,240 of total 23,763 NMC students were not covered under Aadhaar. Now, 4,173 NMC students' registration is pending," said the official.

The official added the concerned officials from the government are not responding to letters sent by the NMC several times. "The government had directed NMC to ensure opening of accounts for all students and all should be linked with Aadhaar. It will be a joint account with either one of the parents. The NMC used to get a grant of Rs 400 per student for uniform every year and used to procure/stitch uniform and distribute among students," he said.

Now, the students will have to purchase and submit receipt with the NMC from the new academic session. "Then the government will directly transfer the grants in the students' accounts and it is part of direct beneficiary transfer (DBT) Scheme. Grants of 4,173 existing students will be in dilemma. Besides, it is likely that many of the new students will not have Aadhaar registration. They will also face the same problems," the official said.

The students of NMC and aided schools cannot avail scholarship without Aadhaar registration. "The government will also transfer scholarship amount in the students' accounts from now onwards," NMC official stated.

One of the aided school's chairperson said admission also cannot be given if children lacks Aadhaar. "This rule will come into effect from new academic session," he said.

The NMC is also asking for Aadhar registration for new admission but not implementing it strictly. "We will take admission and ensure registration under Aadhaar. We are having a centre on permanent basis at NMC head office. We will have to work out a plan and ensure registration of as many as students in phased manner," said the NMC official from the education department.

The same norm is made mandatory by the private schools in admission forms. However, as per information, the private schools are also not implementing it strictly as their students not applicable for grants.