AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 11320 - Aadhaar linkage creating hurdles for tribals

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, May 12, 2017

11320 - Aadhaar linkage creating hurdles for tribals - The Hindu

Aadhaar linkage creating hurdles for tribals

Sumit Bhattacharjee

VISAKHAPATNAM, MAY 12, 2017 00:00 IST

Hardship A tribal woman returning disappointed from a PDS centre in a hamlet in Paderu .By Arrangement

Scope for the middlemen has increased, says IIT professor Reetika Khera

In Bandaveedhi village in Paderu in Visakhapatnam agency, 400 residents had gone without the basic food items from the public distribution system (PDS) in April, as the officer concerned had a marriage at home and had no time to switch on the biometric machine that would record the finger prints of the beneficiaries.

In Kasimkota, Padma, 70, was sent back on Wednesday after she trekked about 3 km in scorching heat to reach the centre, as her iris did not match and was told to come another day or get herself re-enrolled.

Practical difficulties

These were the practical difficulties that the adivasis and the people in rural Andhra Pradesh had been facing over the linkage, said Reetika Khera, Associate Professor from the department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT-Delhi.

As per the Supreme Court’s directive linking Aadhaar for any government scheme was not mandatory, but the government machinery in all the States had been insisting on it leading to problems at least for 10 to 20% beneficiaries, and they fell in the most vulnerable segment, she opined, after a survey conducted across many States, including AP.

“In many cases, beneficiaries are sent back due to lack of connectivity or faulty machines or machines refusing to recognise the bio-metrics. And what happens if the beneficiary is old and disabled. It is not an easy task to come a second or a third time in rural or tribal areas and go back disappointed without the supplies,” she added.

Muscleman’s share

In AP, the PDS system closes by 15th of every month. If one can return by the 15th with the re-enrolment or completing other formalities, consumers can get the rations. Otherwise, they lose out as there is no carry forward system as present in Tamil Nadu.

Comparing AP and Jharkhand, Dr. Reetika said, “In Jharkhand the muscleman of the PDS depot or the local strongman will take a share of your ration even if you have a bio-metric embedded Aadhaar card. They were taking their share when the ration card was in paper format and they continue to take now when it is in the shape of Aadhaar card. So the argument that corruption has been rooted out with Aadhaar does not really hold water.”

Moreover, with the Aadhaar linkage, the scope for the middlemen has increased. “Aadhaar was supposed to remove middlemen. But today we have a middleman for enrolment, another for re-enrolment, another for taking out photocopies of documents and another for getting the documents authenticated,” added Dr. Reetika.

Sumit Bhattacharjee