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, December 28, 2012

2721 - Delhi govt makes Aadhaar compulsory, Centre tells court it is voluntary - First Post


by Pallavi Polanki Dec 19, 2012

New Delhi: “Aadhaar Card is compulsory from 1st January 2013 for access to every government service” warns a public notice by the Delhi Government published in leading newspapers on Sunday. Ignore at your own peril is the straightforward message from Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit to Delhi’s residents.

But a completely contradictory one from what the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) told the Madras High Court less than a month ago.

UIDAI was responding on behalf of the Centre, the Planning Commission and the Tamil Nadu government to a notice by the Madras High Court that is hearing a PIL challenging the constitutional validity of the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI and its issue of UID or Aadhaar numbers.


“I respectfully submit that it is to be noted that UIDAI is not issuing any card but is intimating the UID number through a letter. Enrolment for issue of UID is purely and totally voluntary,” said the Assistant Director General of UIDAI, Bangalore, in the counter-affidavit submitted in the Madras High court.

At various points in the counter-affidavit, the UIDAI denies that Aadhaar is compulsory. To quote a few examples: “Enrolment for the UID is not mandatory”; “The UIDAI is not making Aadhaar mandatory”; “The statement of the petitioner that the UID project is mandatory for BPL (Below Poverty Line) and voluntary for others is wrong and incorrect.”

Nevertheless, the Delhi Government only three days ago declared that Aadhaar will become ‘compulsory’ in less than three weeks “for access to every government service.”

Further, the same affidavit that describes Aadhaar as being ‘purely and totally voluntary’, goes on to state that: “once the UIDAI programme is fully rolled out and Aadhaar numbers are issued to all residents, it would only be logical to make it a necessary condition for availing public benefits and services since Aadhaar would eliminate the possibility of a person getting double benefits under the same programme.”

The purpose of Aadhaar, the counter-affidavit, states is “to promote inclusion and benefit marginalised sections of society who have no formal proof of identity vis-à-vis the State and hence experience difficulties in accessing various welfare schemes….The key role of UID number is that of an enabler — a number that helps governments design better welfare programmes, enables residents to access resources and services more easily wherever they live, and allows agencies and programmes – such as the NREGA, PDS, SSA – to deliver benefits and services effectively and transparently.”

So when the government is intent on making a citizen’s access to livelihood, services and benefits dependent on Aadhaar, what does it mean to state that the ‘enrollment for UID is not mandatory’?

UIDAI’s response has been to simply wash its hands off the matter and pass the buck on to government departments. In the counter-affidavit, the UIDAI official states that: “The UIDAI is not making Aadhaar mandatory. A service provider such as the Ministry of Petroleum may choose to use the UID number as a means to verify the identity of a resident. This is a policy matter of the service provider and not something the UIDAI can comment on. The authority does not define the nature of benefits and services.

“It is the Ministries/Departments which decide whether delivery of the benefits and services should be linked to Aadhaar number and the extent to which the number should be used.”

The petitioner has been given six weeks to reply. The PIL was filed in December 2011 by a lawyer, S Raju, a member of Human Rights Protection Centre and was perhaps the first such petition to challenge the constitutional validity of UIDAI and collection of biometric data by it.

More recently, in November, the Supreme Court issued notice to the centre on another PIL that has sought a stay on the issue of Aadhaar on similar grounds. (Read story here)

The PIL in the Madras High Court describes the executive order that constituted the UIDAI as being “arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional.” It argues that it is the Parliament alone, and not an executive decision, that can authorise the formation of a body such as the UIDAI, which by collecting biometric data is intruding upon a citizen’s fundamental right to privacy.

The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, that seeks the formation and defines the functions of the UIDAI is yet to be passed by Parliament.

The PIL has argued that the amendment to the LPG Supply Rules, 2000, makes it mandatory for domestic users of LPG to have an Aadhaar number and is therefore no longer a choice. “By these rules, the Aadhaar card becomes mandatory even if it is not specifically admitted by the respondents. It is evident that it is a clear piece of compulsory testimony of personal information.”

Denying services and rights to citizens Below Poverty Line (BPL) if they are unwilling to part with their personal information for Aadhaar is “highly impermissible and discriminatory” and a violation of the fundamental right to life and personal liberty, states the PIL.

The government in its counter-affidavit has called legal challenges raised by the PIL as ‘false, untenable and unsustainable,’ maintaining that “the UID project does not violate any of the constitutional rights of the people of India. The UID scheme is not mandatory and residents have a choice not to enroll and provide their biometrics should they choose to.”