AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 12788 - Aadhaar woes: Where villagers are forced to climb a hill for 5 kg of foodgrains

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 26, 2018

12788 - Aadhaar woes: Where villagers are forced to climb a hill for 5 kg of foodgrains - Hindustan Times

Aadhaar woes: Where villagers are forced to climb a hill for 5 kg of foodgrains

Everybody from the poorest beneficiary to the PDS shop owner with the e-Point of Sale device meant for Aadhaar authentication has to trudge uphill for nearly half a kilometre in a village in Jharkhand’s Latehar to carry out everyday transactions.

INDIA Updated: Jan 25, 2018 20:13 Ist

Vishal Sharma

Hindustan Times, Latehar (Jharkhand)

A public distribution system (PDS) dealer with a POS (point of sale) machine and a PDS beneficiary atop a hill due to poor internet connectivity at Rewat Khurd village in Latehar district of Jharkhand. (Vishal Sharma / HT Photo)

Over 300 families residing in Latehar’s Rewat Khurd village face a strange problem. The only way they can get Aadhaar authentication done to receive their entitlements under the public distribution system (PDS) is by scaling a hill in the locality.

According to villagers, a certain corner of the hill is the only place in the entire area that offers access to mobile connectivity. Hence, everybody from the poorest beneficiary to the PDS shop owner in possession of the e-Point of Sale (e-PoS) device meant for Aadhaar authentication has to trudge uphill for nearly half a kilometre in order to carry out everyday transactions.

Even if they do make the trek, not every attempt turns out successful. While the villagers are forced to wait for hours to get their fingerprints authenticated on some days, they are forced to return empty-handed on others.

In the midst of all this, a blame-game rages on.

Villagers blame the members of Ekata, a women’s self-help group (SHG) entrusted with operating the PDS outlet, for their woes. The SHG, for its part, accuses local government officials of ignoring their demands for a mobile tower in the village or – at least – conferment of the “offline status” on their outlet.

Incidentally, all the 124 PDS outlets in Mahuadand and Garu blocks of the district have gone offline, which means beneficiaries can put their thumb impressions on e-PoS devices that are not connected to any mobile network.

Govt needs to strike a balance while using Aadhaar data, observes SC

Aadhaar is ‘an improper gate to service’: Edward Snowden

“We are forced to climb this hill to get just five kg of foodgrains. Many old and physically challenged people are unable to do it,” said Lilmaniaya Devi, a local resident. Her neighbours, Shivchandra Yadav and Gansi Devi, agree that making the climb regularly can be quite a daunting task.

SHG president Bimla Devi, however, insists that they are not at fault. “The villagers hurl abuses at us, but what can we do? We have asked the authorities several times to either grant us offline status or set up a mobile tower, but they don’t seem to be listening,” she said.

Shutting down Aadhaar is not the answer to the privacy question

What’s the problem sharing details with govt for Aadhaar? SC to petitioners

No quick solution seems to be forthcoming either. Latehar district supply officer Shail Prabha Kujur said granting offline tags to PDS outlets was a time-consuming process jointly performed by district and state-level officials. “We have to conduct several rounds of inquiry at various levels to ascertain that the area has no mobile network connectivity. Elected public representatives are not in favour of such a move either,” Kujur added.

Basant Yadav, a member of the district PDS vigilance committee, said the government avoids granting the offline status indiscriminately to outlets for a reason. “Many dealers seek this provision because it helps them sell PDS foodgrains in the black market.”