BMM Letter to Indian Prime Minister on Aadhaar Card Compulsions

Date: 30^th May 2017

To,

Mr. Narendra Modi,

Prime Minister of India,

South Block, Raisina Hill.
New Delhi-110011.

Fax: +91-11-23019545,  23016857.

Subject: Revocation of Aadhaar Card Compulsions

Dear Mr. Narendra Modi,

It has come to our attention that you were totally against Aadhaar Card before your were elected Prime Minister of India and had even written to government authorities protesting concepts of Aadhaar Card promoted by then Manmohan Singh led Congress government. On 26.09.2013 few days after Supreme Court order against Aadhaar Card scheme you had also publicly attacked Aadhaar Card in BJP’s election campaign public meeting prior to the Lok Sabha elections. Videos of you speaking against Aadhaar are widely circulated on Whatsapp and now your government’s enforcement of the same is truly unfortunate.

We question as to why you have not scrapped Aaddhar Card even though you have completed three years in office as Prime Minister of India. Instead of cancellation your government has provided legal sanctions to the dangerous Aadhaar card by passing Aadhaar Act as Money Bill in the Lok Sabha stifling all the dissent and debate. Even this law does not make Aadhaar Card compulsory but voluntary. The trend to links up Aadhaar card to bank account and to PAN are dangerous.

Several government institutions of the Government like Provident Fund of India, Medical Collages, Banks, Public Distribution Services (ration), LPG distribution services are making Aadhaar card number compulsory. You have maintained before last Lok Sabha elections Aadhaar card is security threat to the nation and we agree with that. But why instead of shutting of Aadhaar card you are encouraging this even further? Why didn’t you shut down Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) set up by Congress Party in power? This only shows that your government is no different from Congress government in this matter and you have taken U-turn in your actions.

This is illegal, arbitrary and dangerous placing lives of People of India in tremendous risk.

We also wish to bring to your attention that Government of India has informed Supreme Court of India on May 03, 2017 that Aadhaar data has been leaked and this has been reported in various media. We share one report link http://www.news18.com/news/india/yes-aadhaar-data-were-leaked-centre-to-supreme-court-1390919.html for your perusal. Several crores of Aadhaar numbers are leaked according to the study conducted by Centre of Internet and Society based in Bangalore with links : http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/nformation-security-practices-of-aadhaar-or-lack-of-a-documentation-of-public-availability-of-aadhaar-numbers-with-sensitive-personal-fianacial-information-1

You are requested to reverse this decision and eliminate requirement of Aadhaar card in India not withstanding as to how much expenditure has already been made. Lives of Indian people are precious but Aadhaar card treats it as casual. We found your approach to Aadhaar card is also casual. Before the elections you opposed and then after elections you supported. There is no integrity in what you speak and what you do as proved from Aadhaar card stands you changed time and again.   

You may very well take the statement of Senior Lawyer Shyam Diwan on May 03, 2017 in Supreme Court very seriously as we have taken it too, “Civil rights movement was started by a woman who was made to sit at the back of a bus. Nobody asked her to make a big deal of this.”

Stick to what you spoke at the Public meetings before last Parliament Elections. Video of your speech on 26.09.2013 is getting circulated widely on Whatsapp and you must have seen it too.

Crores of citizens data is already leaked you are doing nothing about it nor UIDAI is doing anything about it. This is a reflection of complete irresponsibility in managing collected private data of residents in India. There is also information in circulation that corporate in India already posses Aadhaar data as it was collected without law. The Law that Lok Sabha passed is incapable of preventing leakage of citizens/residents data gathered from Aadhaar enrollment.

Awaiting your quick action to scrap entire edifice of Aadhaar Card and restore security of every Indian currently under threat from Aadhaar card.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

       

        Sd/- 

Maggie Silveira,

President, Goa Unit

Aadhaar Bill today indeed dark day of our history in India

Today indeed a dark day of our history in India. Today's newspapers report that this Aadhaar Bill has been passed in the Parliament. We mourn for this passage of this Bill. We spread mourning all over. We now have no option but to acknowledge that Bamons and their collaborators has established legal framework to control everyone in this country. We have entered one of the darkest phases of our history. Morn my beloved mourn. For these are the days of mourning. Without mourning there is no healing. Mourning heals us. Mourning infuses us with relief. Mourning gets us face to face with roads ahead of us with sign 'dead end' unless you strip away your most personal and intimate data. Mourn my beloved mourn. Today we mourn. Today our country has extended the warfare on every one living within its borders. Mourn my beloved mourn. We have still freedom to mourn. Mourn my beloved mourn till this right too is outlawed and our throats throttled. Mourn my beloved mourn. For our life in India from today has single purpose - to mourn. We mourn. Our Parliament has been turned into cemetery. Corpses of every living human are now technologically tracked. You can no longer dare the ruling bamons. Joy of this Bill is that man of us will not even know that we are turned into living corpses moving around cities and countryside. Yet mourn my beloved, mourn. If you are in your senses mourn. I mourn the the sudden demise of freedom of my body. Big brother is now a confronting reality. Mourn my beloved mourn. Let our tears be the testimony of our protest. Let the ashes of freedom on fire deliver new hope - the sense of mourning. For now sense of mourning alone is our hope. This is not a defeat though. This is red carpet welcome for freedom to walk upright by our side. For this mourning is nice. I mourn. You mourn. He mourns. She mourns. They mourn. For mourning now is our way of life till our gravediggers in Indian Parliament get sense of mourning too. We have a hope one day we shall overcome. Yes we shall overcome. Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome one day....

Sebastian Rodrigues, March 12, 2016

Petition to Goa CM to withraw Adhar Card need for LPG

NCCF/UIDAI/2014/005                               2^nd March 2014

To,
Hon. Chief Minister of Goa,

Through Mr. Avertano Furtado,

Hon. Minister for Labour & Fisheries and

MLA, Navelim Constituency.

Sub: Request to withdraw the Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG Subsidy (DBTL) Scheme

Dear Sir,

The Direct Benefit Transfer of LPG Subsidy (DBTL) Scheme which is being enforced in a few states including Goa, is a total failure and needs to be immediately withdrawn and scrapped as  many persons who have enrolled by linking their Aadhar number & Bank account to their LPG connection, have not received the subsidy amount in their banks. Now with the Central Government having announced that the scheme will be suspended and the Petroleum Minister, Mr. Veerappa Moili having endorsed this in national Television, the people of Goa are at loss to understand as to how the LPG dealers are charging full rate for the cylinder refills and how the subsidy amount will be reimbursed to them.

In addition there are many of us who have not yet enrolled for the Unique Identification number (UID) or ‘Aadhaar’ issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India for the following reasons:-

1.      The National Identification Authority of India, (NIDAI) Bill 2010”, which was introduced in Parliament was rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in December 2011, calling it directionless, lacking clarity of purpose and raising serious concerns regarding national security. The Committee rejected not just the Bill, but it also trashed the UID scheme. Implementation of the UID scheme without a law violates the Constitution.

2.      Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Rajeev Shukla has replied in both Houses Parliament, i.e. in Lok Sabha on 8/5/13 and in Rajya Sabha on 23/8/13 that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for availing subsidies including domestic cooking gas and that “if any public sector undertaking is doing it, we will correct it”.

3.      The Aadhaar enrolment form says that Aadhaar is free and voluntary.

4.      Supreme Court Judgment dt. 23/9/2013 in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 494 of 2012 says: - “In the meanwhile, no person should suffer for not getting the Adhaar card in spite of the fact that some authority had issued a circular making it mandatory”. Hence continuation of this system amounts to contempt of Supreme Court Orders.

5.      The personal data like finger prints and iris scan will be owned by a Private entity not by the Government. As per the report of the TAG-UP Committee headed by Nandan Nilekani, government data and databases would be privatised through the creation of NIUs, which will then ‘own’ the data and the government would become a ‘customer’. In this set-up, we are witnessing the emergence of an information infrastructure, which the government helps by financing and facilitating the ‘start-up’ and by the use of coercion to get people on to the database, which it will then hand over to corporate interests when it reaches a ‘steady state’. “Once the rollout is completed,” the Nilekani committee says, “the government’s role shifts to that of a customer.” Those enrolling on the UID database have not been informed that their data is to yield profit for the UIDAI, Rs. 288.15 crore a year and its only investor, the government, does not even own the data. How many in the government are even aware of this investing of ownership in an entity that continues to remain deliberately undefined and opaque?

6.      Right to Privacy is inherent in the right to life guaranteed under our Constitution. When the government proposes to gather personal and biometric data of the people it intrudes into their privacy. Such acts cannot be done without the sanction of law.

7.      Aadhaar card is no longer unique; there are instances when it was duplicated. According to a report in Matrubhoomi, a Kerala-based newspaper, PV Narayanan, a resident of Panatthadi panchayat received two Aadhaar numbers: 548780623023 and 356459270677. There are instances reported in Goa also that 5 fake Aadhar cards were found.

8.      One of the UIDAI's contractors is L1 ID Solutions (L1 for short). The company was formed through the efforts of La Penta, which merged two companies, Viisage and Identix to set up L1. Viisage was under investigation by US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for certain offenses. Is it prudent or even sensible to contract with such a company for biometric services for the entire population of this country? In other words to be identified as an Indian, a foreign, private shady company would have to verify and certify that the biometric images stored in their database matches that of the person being identified.

9.      In any financial system based on authentication there is a concept of a password. In case of a banking system, if password is stolen, calling up the bank and asking it to deactivate current password and sending a new password is practical and workable option. In this Aadhaar card system this basic principle is broken: the password is biometric which cannot be changed. Thus, if biometric is lost (fingerprints can be stolen), that person is doomed, because it is not possible to get new fingerprints and the data will be lost forever to the person who stole the password. With how much care and how much ever security, there is a finite possibility that some people will lose their biometrics in this system and they will be shut down from the system for good.

10.  But in case you still feel it is required, then please give us a choice to submit other I.D. documents like voter’s card, Passport, Driving license, Pan card, residence certificate, ect in lieu of Aadhaar. All these documents are unique i.e. one person can have only one card.  On the other hand, it is clearly mentioned on the Aadhar card that it is only an identity card and not a citizenship proof, whereas some of the above mentioned cards prove your citizenship as well. 

In this time of high inflation where the common men is already reeling under high rise in cost of everything, this extra load of Rs.600/- per cylinder will add to his misery. The majority of poor people are not used to banking system and most don’t even have bank accounts. Even after forcing them to open bank accounts, many people are unable to effectively use it and are finding it extremely difficult to pay Rs.1, 156/- upfront to buy a cylinder refill. Add to it the confusion of whether the subsidy is deposited or not. People all over Goa are losing their patience and have approached us for support in this major issue affecting each and every household in Goa. We have received complaints of people with Aadhaar card as well as people who have not yet enrolled for the Aadhaar card.

If the Mamta Banerji led All India Trinamool Congress Government in Bengal has demanded that the government fully complies with the verdict of the Honourable Supreme Court immediately and withdraws this notification, the Government of Kerala too has objected to this system and recently even the Maharashtra Government has put it on hold, why can’t the Goa Government also join in and scrap it? The Congress Government of Mr. Digambar Kamat was one of the 1^st in India to sign the MOU with UIDAI without giving a thought to its implementation as well as the legal aspect, i.e. whether the Parliament has passed it or not.

Therefore in the best interest of Goans, we request that this scheme (DBTL) be dropped and the earlier system of buying the LPG refills at subsidized rate be followed in Goa.

Awaiting an early action from you, thanking you in anticipation,

For Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum,

 Sd/-

(Secretary)

South Goa Collector misguiding people on Aadhaar Card

Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum along with other activists from Cuncolim, Velim, St. Jose de Areal, Majorda and Margao today visited the South Goa Collector, Mr. N. D. Agarwal and questioned him on the issue.

The meeting was very stormy. Collector, N.D. Agarwal could not satisfactorily answer when told that the UID scheme is rejected by the Parliament and subsequently confirmed by the Supreme Court. He merely kept saying that he has not given any order and that he has no say in the matter.

When pressed hard, he said that he has received a verbal order through "Video Conferencing" from the Government. When asked to reply in writing stating this fact, he refused and said that he has nothing to do with the implementation of the Aadhaar Card. He said that he has nothing to loose if people don't do the Aadhar card. When reminded that he is the Head of South Goa administration and that the poor aam
aadmi will have to pay Rs. 1000/- for every refill and in view of it, people are requesting him to scrape or at least postpone indefinitely the implementation of it, he refused and starting accusing the activist for seeking publicity and asked the local Channel cameramen to put off their cameras as he did not have any answers.

Below is the letter submitted to Collector today.

............................................................................

 NCCF/LPG/ CS/2013/085                   25th November 2013



To,

District Collector - South,

Mathany Saldanha Complex,

Margao, Goa



Dear Sir,



Sub: Clarification about linking bank account no. with LPG connection



With reference to the recent press report about 30th November being the last day for south Goa, to link bank account number with the LPG connection to avail gas subsidies, kindly inform as to what are the documents accepted for the same?



Since the press note/advertisements mention only Aadhaar number, we want a written clarification from you whether other I.D. documents like voter’s card, Passport, Driving license, Pan card, residence certificate, ect can also be submitted in lieu of the Aadhar card. All these are unique i.e. one person can have only one card. In fact onthe Aadhar card it is clearly mentioned that it is only a identity
card and not a proof of citizenship, whereas some of the above mentioned cards prove your citizenship as well.



We strongly object to forcing the consumers to link their Aadhar Number and Bank account with their LPG consumer no. as it directly contradicts the statement of Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Rajeev Shukla in the Rajya Sabha on 23/08/2013 and earlier in Lok Sabha on 8/5/2013.



“The National Identification Authority of India, (NIDAI) Bill 2010”, was prepared by the UIDAI in June 2010; and was introduced in Parliament. This Bill was roundly rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance in December 2011. The Parliamentary Committee recommended that both the Bill and the UID project be sent
back to the drawing board. The Committee, in a near unanimous decision, rejected not just the Bill, but it also trashed the UID scheme. The Supreme Court too has confirmed this.

The matter which was raised by members of the Parliament was answered by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Rajeev Sukla, saying that Aadhaar card is not mandatory for availing subsidies including domestic cooking gas. He further added that “if any public sector undertaking is doing it, we will correct it”. You nor the Petroleum Companies are not above the Indian Parliament and the Supreme Court of
India.



We kindly request you to give proper information to the public andmention that Aadhar number is not mandatory for availing domestic cooking gas subsidy and all consumers irrespective of whether they have Aadhar or not, will get the subsidy. Also please ensure that LPG dealers do not threaten the poor consumers that refills will not be
supplied if no Aadhar number is given.



Awaiting your necessary action in the matter, thanking you in anticipation,



For Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum,





(Secretary)


--
Thanks & regards,


For Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum



--
Thanks & regards,

For Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum

Aadhaar Card Scrapped by Supreme Court

BMM welcomes Order

Bharat Mukti Morcha (BMM) welcomes Supreme Court order of 23^rd September 2013 against Aadhaar Cards. Supreme Court ruling through its bench of Justices B. S. Chauhan and S. A. Bhobde held that Aadhaar Card cannot be mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies. 

Times of India of 24^th September 2013 reported about the Public Interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Petitioners, Justice Puttuswamy and another,  said they had ascertained that the Unique Identification Number Project proposed to give UID numbers not only to citizens but also to illegal migrants pursuant to a scheme framed by the government through an executive order of January 28, 2009. Referring to several judgments of the Supreme Court on right to privacy of a citizen guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, the petitioners said, “Collecting biometric information as a condition precedent for the issue of Aadhaar card is an invasion of right to privacy of citizens and thereby this can only be done by a law enacted by Parliament and hence, beyond the executive power.”

Bharat Mutki Morcha has been agitating against Aadhaar cards for the past few years and this Supreme Court order is a welcome one. Indian government now ought to take immediate steps to delete the data collected from Aadhaar Cards and stop all the centers engaged in Aadhaar Card exercise.

In Goa too largely Aadhaar Card nuisance has been aggressively promoted by the State government. Gas cylinders too have been linked to Aadhaar card by HP, BP and Indane gas companies. Cooking gas is very basic need of human being. 

Now the Supreme Court has ordered the non-applicability of Aadhaar Card for the following:

1.       Registration of marriages

2.       Salaries for government employees

3.       Provident Fund

4.       Bank account

5.       Gas Cylinders

Aadhaar Card is not compulsory any more. All the Centres involved in preparing Aadhaar card must stop with immediate effect in Goa too. Now that the Aadhaar Card is chucked out Gas cylinders must be sold at Rs 418/- as it was before introduction of Aadhaar Card without any complications.

Blackmailing for Aadhaar card

17^th September 2013

  

To,

The Chief Secretary,

Goa Government,

Porvorim, Goa

Subject: Blackmailing for Aadhaar card

Sir,

This is to bring to your notice the statement in Rajya Sabha on 23^rd August 2013 made by Rajeev Shukla, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs that Aadhaar Cards are not mandatory to avail subsidy on cooking gas or on any other matter too. He also stated that in case any public sector companies are making Aadhaar cards compulsory then the respective companies will be corrected. His statement was reported in newspapers in Goa.

The law relating to Aadhaar card is blocked by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance citing that this entire project lacks clarity of direction, waste of public resources and grave threat to the national security. Any promotions of Aadhaar cards must cease with immediate effect and data collected is liable to be destroyed.

Several advertisements in newspapers from Public sector companies dealing with supply of cooking gas namely from Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indane are insisting that Aadhaar card is necessary for the purpose of availing subsidies on domestic cooking gas.

The Petroleum companies are indulging in the affairs that are threat to national security without law being passed in the Parliament and even after the Public Statement on this in the Rajya Sabha on 23^rd August 2013 and in Lok Sabha on 8^th May 2013 by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajeev Shukla. Petroleum companies are acting in violation of Indian Parliament.

Even the press release from the Prime Minister’s Office dated 2^nd September 2013 did not deny that there the Parliament has not passed the law concerning Aadhaar Card enrollment.

Collectors in Goa too have been advocating for Aadhaar Cards and are giving certain deadlines for public in this regard.  Collectors are coming in media publicly and making what is illegal sounds so real to the people of Goa. South Goa Collector is an example in this regard who declared that Aadhaar cards and bank account are needed for procuring subsidies on cooking gas. Can Collector enforce Aadhaar number that has been blocked by Indian Parliament? In North Goa too the cooking gas subsidies has been linked up to the Aadhaar cards and bank account. This is an open revolt against Indian Parliament. The Collectors who enforce Aadhaar cards are liable to be terminated from their service for superseding the Parliament.

In an island of Vanxim the cost the cylinder as of 16^th September 2013 is Rs.970/-. Pamphlets are already being distributed in all the 12 talukas of Goa regarding the same.

You are therefore urged on priority basis to correct the Petroleum Companies insisting on Aadhaar and bank account. People of Goa must not be fooled as this Bill is not passed in the Parliament and this very awareness is already created through our pamphlet distribution.

You are also urged to direct the North Goa and South Collectors to retract from their emphasis on enforcing Aadhaar Cards to avail cooking gas subsidies.

Immediate action on this from you will be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely

Sd/-

Maggie Silveira,

President

Bharat Mukti Mocha

Goa State Unit

Copies to:

1. The Collector, South Goa, Margao, Goa.
2. The Collector, North Goa, Panjim, Goa.
3. The Director, Department of Civil Supplies, Government of Goa, Panjim.
4. Regional Manager, Hindustan Petroleum Company.
5. Regional Manager, Bharat Petroleum Company.
6. Regional Manager, Indane Gas.
7. LPG dealers in Goa State. 
8. (Secretary) Planning, Government of Goa

Let’s march to destroy blackmailing through Aadhaar card

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going against Parliament. The law (National Identification Authority Bill) for Aadhaar card is not passed in the Parliament and he being the Prime Minister of India is dictating terms against the Parliament of India. Aadhaar card is totally and completely illegal and people are made slaves in doing the Aadhaar Card. As a Prime Minister he has to work for the good of the people. Parliamentary standing committee on finance in fact has recommended the scrapping of the Aadhaar card project citing the reason of absence of direction and clarity of the project, waste of public resources and grave threat to national security.

Cylinders should be sold at the rate of Rs. 435/- as it was sold before and the public at large should not be troubled by the Prime Minister the way he is doing so. Aadhaar cards must be scrapped completely and totally giving due respect to the Parliament of India.

How can Prime Minister legitimize Aadhaar cards as he has done in his press release of September 2^nd 2013. The web link of the Prime Minister’s press release is as follows: 

http://pmindia.nic.in/content_print.php?nodeid=1685&nodetype=1

As a member of the house who earns about a Rs.4,000/- per month wherein he has to support his wife and children plus pay the electricity bill, telephone bill, water bill; how much money will he have left with him after all these payments? Plus he has to pay Rs.950/- for the gas cylinder. This is only going to chock up his throat and give him sleepless nights endlessly. It is disgusting and highly miserable act of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh even to think on such a misery by going against the Parliament of India. Such people are showing their true selves that they are really pursuing the agenda of the Eurasians Bamons who don’t care about the mulnivasis. 

Goa Chief Minister Bamon Manohar Parrikar made Rs.10/- less on Petrol after coming to Power as per promise in his manifesto in 2012. Immediately after that his government completely stopped Kerosene available at the fair price shop through the ration card and mulnivasis at large are suffering today as Kerosene is stopped by Parrikar.

The house maids, the sweepers, the peons, private sector working people are suffering tremendously on account of the Chief Minister bamon Parrikar and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. With all this suffering in mind they also have to cater to their children’s education and future. This is only strangling and suffocating what this Bamon Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is doing to Goa.  Only MLA’s and Ministers and Chief Minister and Prime Minister can afford to in this high cost life style. Others will have to struggle. The MLAs are paid Rs. One lakh five thousand monthly, MPs, Ministers, Prime Minister are getting even more. 

Bharat Mukti Morcha condemns Bamon Manohar Parrikar and the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for going against the Parliament of India. Scrapping of Aadhaar card pamphlets are distributed in all the 12 talukas of Goa. Total awareness is made about Aadhaar card scandal in all 12 talukas of Goa.