["The latest proposal to make the UID mandatory for all those who are required to file Income Tax returns will affect a smaller chunk of the population than the notification making the UID mandatory for rations. But interestingly, if you do not file your Income Tax returns, it is not exclusion, rather you can face penal action. In effect, no tax payer will be able to choose to be outside UID system without being criminalised. Nothing allows the government to take away my entitlements, or criminalise me if I do not comply with the project declared by the highest court of this land to be voluntary."
(The text of the relevant portion of the latest SC order, dated August 11 2015, reads as under: Having considered the matter, we (the three-judge bench) are of the view that the balance of interest would be best served, till the matter is finally decided by a larger Bench if the Union of India or the UIDA proceed in the following manner:- 1. The Union of India shall give wide publicity in the electronic and print media including radio and television networks that it is not mandatory for a citizen to obtain an Aadhaar card; 2. ***The production of an Aadhaar card will not be condition for obtaining any benefits otherwise due to a citizen*** (emphasis added); 3. ***The Unique Identification Number or the Aadhaar card will not be used by the respondents for any purpose other than the PDS Scheme and in particular for the purpose of distribution of foodgrains, etc. and cooking fuel, such as kerosene. The Aadhaar card may also be used for the purpose of the LPG Distribution Scheme;*** (emphasis added) 4. The information about an individual obtained by the Unique Identification Authority of India 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. Ref: p. 16&17 / 18 at <http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=42841>. May also look up p. 15&16 / 25 at <http://www.sacw.net/IMG/pdf/uid_sc_orders_11.08.2015.pdf>.)] http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31821&articlexml=BY-INVITATION-Aadhaars-insidious-march-continues-23032017008021 Mar 23 2017 : Mirror (Mumbai) BY INVITATION - Aadhaar's insidious march continues PRAAVITA The last few weeks of UID Aadhaar-related govern ment notifications have felt like a reenactment of the Martin Niemöller poem: First they came for the journalists, then they came for the pensioners, then they came for the ration card holders, then they came for the children.... The UID project began its life as an Executive Notification dated 28th January 2009. Even as the project has been working its way into the government for the last 7 years, it only obtained legal backing in 2016. The Aadhaar Act, through a sneaky process that circumvented the scrutiny of the Upper House of Parliament, became law as a Money Bill in March 2016. A batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the UID project has been ongoing in the Supreme Court since 2012. The petition has been pending a hearing by a bench of 5 or more judges on the question of whether Privacy is a fundamental right in India.No less than 5 orders of the Supreme Court have held that possession of a UID number cannot be made mandatory to access entitlements or benefits.The most recent of these orders was in October 2015. Despite the passage of the Aadhaar Act in March last year, the Supreme Court, in September 2016, recognised its earlier orders and stated that the UID number could not be made mandatory for availing certain scholarships. Thus, the UID number cannot be mandatory for any purpose whatsoever.The notifications making possession of a UID number mandatory are blatantly illegal.The UID project has always operated outside the law and continues to do so. While it might seem like we already give our data unthinkingly to various private and public bodies, the UID project is unique in its ability to connect and centralise all the dispersed and diverse information about ourselves. We as citizens are vulnerable in the absence of any regulation of data collection, data processing and surveillance. We do not even know who operates the systems that will control our data and whom they will share it with. ***The latest proposal to make the UID mandatory for all those who are required to file Income Tax returns will affect a smaller chunk of the population than the notification making the UID mandatory for rations. But interestingly, if you do not file your Income Tax returns, it is not exclusion, rather you can face penal action. In effect, no tax payer will be able to choose to be outside UID system without being criminalised. Nothing allows the government to take away my entitlements, or criminalise me if I do not comply with the project declared by the highest court of this land to be voluntary.*** [Emphasis added.] The Aadhaar project has been marketed to us in many ways. First as a measure to improve welfare and corruption, and now as a tool for digital payments and the cashless economy. In terms of welfare, this year itself, incorrect details entered in Aadhaar enrollement led to 7 lakh pensioners being declared dead in Rajasthan. It has led to the exclusion of around 30% of ration beneficiaries, around 1 crore people, under the Public Distribution System in Rajasthan. Inflated savings claimed to be the result of the project have been repeatedly punctured by academics and the government's own reports.In the almost inexorable onward march of this project, we have willingly and unthinkingly accepted its insidious entrance into every aspect of our lives. When it was made mandatory for ration card holders to avail grains under the PDS, a small number of people questioned the government. More recently, when they came for the children with the notification making Aadhaar mandatory for mid-day meals, a larger furor was raised with protests in Delhi and statements from rights-based campaigns. The latest attempt to make it mandatory will bring into the net all those previously unaffected.Now is the time to speak up.They're coming for you. The writer is a working committee member of the Rethink Aadhaar Campaign Click To Enlarge -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
