AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: 13414 - Patients reluctant to share their Aadhaar details

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

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

13414 - Patients reluctant to share their Aadhaar details - The Tribune

Posted at: May 1, 2018, 2:17 AM;

Patients reluctant to share their Aadhaar detailsq

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 30

The orders issued by the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) asking patients to submit Aadhaar card has not gone down well with patients. Since patients are reluctant in submitting their Aadhaar cards, it is turning into a double whammy both for patients and doctors.

“Patients do not want to submit their Aadhaar cards and sometimes they speak rudely and ask us to show the orders, which make it necessary to submit the Aadhaar card. A patient did not submit the Aadhaar card during his first visit, so I asked him to bring it on his next visit. But on his next visit, he started misbehaving and refused to submit the same. It is my duty and I was doing the same,” said Dr Veenu Khanna, Ayurvedic Medical Officer at Jawahar Nagar dispensary.

Another Ayurvedic Medical Officer from the city said sometimes patients coming to them don’t even have the Aadhaar cards so we cannot deny treatment to them. “We treat them and in case they are carrying their Aadhaar card, they submit it with us . Otherwise, we ask them to submit it anytime or whenever they come next. Nothing can be done of patients, who do not have their Aadhar cards, we examine them and prescribe the medicines as it is our duty,” said a doctor from Ayurvedic dispensary.

Raman Kumar, a patient who went to Ayurvedic dispensary at Model Gram some time ago, said he was taken aback when he was asked to submit the Aadhaar card for treatment. The card is linked to my bank accounts and has my personal information, which can also be misused. How can I give it to anyone?” he questioned. He said he preferred to go to a private practitioner than a government dispensary.

Another patient, Dina Ram from Tibba Colony, said he does not understand why the doctor always asks him to bring some card along. “I do not have any such card made and I fail to understand the role of the card in my treatment,” he said.

According to sources in the department, the move was initiated by the AYUSH ministry to check fake name entry into the registers. “Generally, it was seen that doctors from dispensaries were sending a list of fake patients examined by them per day. Sometimes doctors were not present at dispensaries and were found preparing a fake list of patients. By making Aadhaar card submission mandatory for patients, this is not possible,” he said.