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

Thursday, November 30, 2017

12437 - Willing to extend deadline for Aadhaar linking to services till March 31: Centre to SC- Times Now

Willing to extend deadline for Aadhaar linking to services till March 31: Centre to SC

Updated: Nov 27, 2017 | 17:23 IST | ET Now Digital

New Delhi: The Centre is willing to extend the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to various services till March 31, 2018, it told the Supreme Court on Monday. 

“We are willing to extend the deadline for mandatory linking of Aadhaar to various services till March 31 next year,” the Centre told the apex court.

Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is likely to set up a Constitution bench next week to hear the issue of stay against mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile phone numbers etc.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by chief justice Dipak Misra who said that the court would take it up in the week to come.

Also, the apex court said that it would hear a batch of petitions challenging mandatory linking of Aadhaar for granting various services to citizen after its constitution bench concludes hearing the Delhi-Centre dispute.

The government has made Aadhaar card mandatory for carrying out a number of tasks. These include linking bank accounts and mobile phone number. You are also required to link your 12-digit unique identification number Aadhaar to mutual fund holdings, insurance policy, PPF and small savings schemes such as Kisan Vikas Patra.

Recently, the government has made Aadhaar number mandatory for obtaining benefits under the Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana (VPBY) pension scheme. The scheme is meant for senior citizens, which is implemented through Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC).

Here are the important deadlines you should not miss:
Deadline for linking Aadhaar card with PPF, NSC: December 31, 2017
The government has made Aadhaar mandatory for opening a Post Office account or investing in small savings schemes such as National Savings Certificate (NSC), PPF and Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), Aadhaar is a must.
Existing depositors who have not provided Aadhaar number at the time of application for such deposit "shall submit his Aadhaar number to the post office savings bank or deposit office concerned, on or before December 31, 2017," said government notification.

Also Read: Here’s how you can update Aadhaar address online, offline

Deadline to link Aadhaar with PAN: December 31, 2017
The government has extended the deadline for linking PAN with biometric identifier Aadhaar by four months to December 31. The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar for taxpayers was to end on August 31. The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar previously was July 31 but was extended to August 31.
"Aadhaar was to be linked with PAN by 31st August 2017. The date for linking Aadhaar with PAN has been extended till 31st December 2017," the CBDT, the apex policymaking body of the Income Tax Department, noted. An Aadhaar PAN link is mandatory for processing of income tax returns (ITRs) for the assessment year 2017-18.
Deadline to link Aadhaar with mobile SIM: 6 February 2018
The Aadhaar-Mobile SIM linking should be completed by February 6, under e-KYC verification, the Centre told the Supreme Court. The Centre also mandated production of 12-digit unique Aadhaar number for opening new bank accounts.
While citing an order passed by the apex court, the Centre said that it was the SC which had approved the rule for mandatory Aadhaar-mobile number linkage in the Lokniti Foundation case on February 6, 2017, while giving a window of one year.

Also Read: Investing in mutual funds? Know these 5 rules on how gains are taxed

Deadline to submit Aadhaar details to banks/financial institutions - December 31, 2017
The government has made it mandatory for all banks and financial institutions to mention the Aadhaar details of clients in the KYC (Know your Customer) document. If you fail to link it to your bank account by December 31 this year, it may even become inoperable.
Know your customer (KYC) is the process of a business identifying and verifying the identity of its clients and a KYC document basically provides all the details that authenticate the identity of a customer.

Deadline to link mutual fund investments to Aadhaar: December 31, 2017
The government has been made mandatory for mutual fund houses to obtain their customers' Aadhaar numbers and link the same to their respective accounts.
The move came after a recent amendment in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Rules, 2017.
By linking mutual fund investment with Aadhaar, one authorizes the agent for seeding one's Aadhaar number to the MF schemes.
"As per recent amendments to Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) Rules, 2017, Financial Institutions like Mutual Funds are mandated to obtain Aadhaar Number from their customers and link the same to the respective accounts,” the website stated.
The deadline to link mutual fund investments to Aadhaar is December 31.

Deadline to give Aadhaar details to avail social security schemes - December 31, 2017
Aadhaar number has to be provided for all social security schemes by December 31, 2017. In order to avail pension, LPG cylinders or government scholarships, one must provide his or her Aadhaar card details.

Also Read: This is why linking Aadhaar to realty deals could be a game changer for the sector

Recently, amidst a tug of war between the central government and its critics over the validity and omnipresence of the Aadhaar program, UIDAI has revealed that more than 200 central and state government websites publicly displayed details such as names and addresses of some Aadhaar beneficiaries.
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