AADHAAR RELATED ARTICLES: PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation)

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

Showing posts with label PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation). Show all posts

Monday, May 30, 2016

10046 - PM Narendra Modi Directs Officials To Quickly Address Students' Issues - NDTV

PM Narendra Modi Directs Officials To Quickly Address Students' Issues

All India | Press Trust of India | Updated: May 25, 2016 21:36 IST

During the monthly interaction through ICT-based platform of PRAGATI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure projects. (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today directed officials to speedily address students' issues, particularly the grievances related to disbursement of scholarships and fellowships, as he reviewed the progress of Aadhaar-linkage to disbursal of benefits to students.

He also took serious note of the delay in modernisation and expansion works for the Bhilai Steel Plant and asked the Steel and Heavy Engineering Ministries to sort out all issues, and complete the project at the earliest.

During the monthly interaction through ICT-based platform of PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), he reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure projects in the road, railway, steel and power sectors, spread over several states including Tripura, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

Reviewing the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to disbursement of scholarships/fellowships to students, he sought to know the reasons for the delay, a PMO statement said.

He enquired about the progress of Aadhaar-linkage to disbursal of benefits to students, the statement said.

He "urged the concerned officials to increase the speed of addressing grievances, and aim for quick and effective resolution of students' issues with regard to scholarships and fellowships," the PMO said.

The railway projects reviewed included the Akhaura-Agartala line, which will be a vital link between India and Bangladesh.

The prime minister also took stock of the progress of the 'waste to wealth' initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission, which includes both 'waste to compost', and 'waste to energy' components.

Various states gave details about the progress of works under this initiative.

Turning to the health sector, PM Modi reviewed the progress under the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme, aimed at further reducing the incidence and mortality rate of the disease.

He directed that necessary equipment for timely detection of Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis be installed in the districts on priority.

He also called for a review of the progress towards combating the disease to be undertaken at the district level.

The prime Minister also took stock of the progress towards further reducing Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate (IMR and MMR), and the initiatives that have been taken in various States in this regard.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

9657 - PM Narendra Modi seeks speedy integration of land records with Aadhaar - dna

PM Narendra Modi seeks speedy integration of land records with Aadhaar

PM Modi (PTI) (File Photo)

Wed, 23 Mar 2016-11:27pm , PTI

It is a move aimed at checking fraudulence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for integration of all land records with Aadhaar at the earliest as he examined the progress of its digitisation, a move aimed at checking fraudulence, among other things, in the registration of land deeds.

Chairing his 11th interaction through PRAGATI -- the information and communications technology (ICT)-based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, the Prime Minister said it is extremely important to ensure the successful implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. The government had last year initiated a pilot project to develop a modern, comprehensive and transparent Land Records Management System based on the principle of authentication vis -a-vis linking with the Unique Identification Number (Aadhaar). The aim was to implement a conclusive land titling system with title guarantee.

The departments of registration and stamps in various states have already begun Aadhaar-based biometric verification. Jind district in Haryana became the first district in the country to successfully complete the pilot project of linking land records with Aadhaar. Of the total of eight villages selected for the pilot project, two were in Jind.

Reviewing the progress of provision of citizen-centric services electronically, the Prime Minister also called for a comprehensive district-wise review of how many services are actually being delivered online. "The Prime Minister asked about mission-mode projects under Digital India. Examining the progress of digitisation of land records, the Prime Minister called for integration of all land records with Aadhaar at the earliest," an official statement said.

Monday, October 5, 2015

8811 - PM wants all of India under Aadhaar by December - TNN

PM wants all of India under Aadhaar by December

Mahendra Singh,TNN | Oct 3, 2015, 03.43 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for universal enrollment under the ambitious Aadhaar project by the year-end. At a recent high-level meeting of PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation), Modi asked Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and chief secretaries of states such as UP and Bihar which are lagging behind to accelerate and complete enrollment of all residents by December 2015.

Modi's emphasis on the 'JAM (Jandhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) trinity' in his Silicon Valley outreach, is a clear indication that he wants Aadhaar to be one of the pivots of his anti-poverty strategies ensuring entitlements meant for poor and rural masses actually reach them.

On its part, the UIDAI, which has enrolled around 91.68 crore citizens since it issued the first Aadhaar number five years back, is confident it can rise to the PM's expectations. As Aadhaar emerges as a tool to check pilferages in entitlements of welfare scheme, the government too seems to be increasingly convinced that the issue of privacy will withstand the scrutiny of the law.

Privacy rights activists argue that biometric information collected from all those who sign up for an Aadhaar number can be abused if not backed by adequate legal safeguards. The government, which feels that without Aadhaar, targeting of social welfare schemes will be hard, thinks otherwise.

READ ALSO: Aadhaar card update is just a click away

An expert said there is no credible apprehension of breach of privacy if this were to be permitted as the UIDAI doesn't share any personal information of an Aadhaar card holder, including biometric details to any other person or government agency. "The IT Act 2000 has every safeguard to protect the privacy of all sensitive information and Aadhaar is already compliant with the Act," he said.

For instance, he said, the UIDAI refused to share with CBI the biometric details of everyone who was enrolled in Goa and the Supreme Court gave the verdict in its favour. The authority had moved the apex court after the Goa high court ordered it to share biometric data with the CBI which was investigating a 14-month-old rape case in Goa that is yet to be solved.

The UIDAI argued before the SC that its database is for civilian purposes and cannot be shared without consent under the agency's current data-sharing and privacy policy. "The Supreme Court can direct UIDAI not to share the data with anybody not even government," he added.