Hello. My name is Rajesh Mehar. I am a law-abiding citizen of India. Wait. Actually, I am not so sure anymore.
Until 1 April of 2017, I was a good citizen. You could even have called me an Adarsh Citizen. I paid my taxes on time, did not participate in cash transactions if other alternatives were available, did not hoard cash or have undisclosed income, did not use unregistered mobile phone SIM cards, did not claim subsidies surreptitiously, and definitely did not resort to legal action against my own country.
But since 1 April 2017, it has all been coming apart. I have not been able to file my Income Tax returns despite wanting and trying to. My bank accounts are most likely to become non-operational at the end of this month and I will be forced to transact only in cash. I will not be able to receive a salary, declare my income, or participate in the economy legally. My mobile phone connection will be blocked in February 2018, and I may need to borrow a SIM card and impersonate someone else. I still do not plan to claim any subsidies, but I most definitely plan legal action against my government.
All of this has happened only because of one powerful force in my life. No, not my faadhaar, not my maadhaar, but Aadhaar. My name is Rajesh Mehar. I do not have Aadhaar and I am an orphan of our democracy.
But why? What am I hiding?
Several friends have laughed at my stubbornness. Why don’t you want to get Aadhaar? What are you hiding? Don’t you know Aadhaar is stopping many illegal practices? If you can give your fingerprints to the US Consulate for a visa, why can’t you give your biometrics to our government? Do you hate our Prime Minister?
I have been thinking about these questions without scepticism and formulating my honest answers. It makes sense to start in reverse order.
No, I do not hate our Prime Minister. I disagree with him on many counts, and I think he has made some grievous mistakes along the way, but I like him as much as I like any other political leader from any other party. And that is NOT why I have not got my Aadhaar.
Yes, I have obtained a visa and travelled to other countries and I have submitted my fingerprints in the process. However, I did so feeling powerless, criminalised, and disenfranchised every moment of that process. I did so knowing that I would go back to the welcoming, safe bosom of my country at the end of the ordeal. Now to feel the same way about the land I was born in makes me sad beyond description. I feel like a crying child, beaten and abused outside, coming back home to discover that my parents had gone mad and I was to be beaten and abused at home too.
No, Aadhaar has not stopped criminal activities and illegal practices, or even reduced them. In fact, criminals are using Aadhaar, and common citizens’ lack of understanding about it, to perpetrate crimes and continue illegal practices. The
government themselves have leaked citizens’ private information, even
the President’s office has. Sometimes, private information has been leaked
through obscure websites that nobody knows about, like Zambo dot in. Using Aadhaar, common citizens’ money has been
redirected without their knowledge, or cheated out of them
again and
again and
again and
again. In fact,
criminals have even managed to make fake Aadhaars and the initial
promise of weeding out fake claimants of government subsidies and entitlements is also now broken.
Are there safeguards?
But my friends are not idiots. “Arre, but it will never happen to you yaar. The government has made sure that there are safeguards. Even if anything goes wrong, you will be able to get redressal,” they say.
Well, no.
Why is it compulsory?
Orphaned by Democracy
Indian citizens are constitutionally blessed with three parents for support, one more than the average child gets allocated. These three parents are the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. Citizenry have tried to tell these three parents that they are being abused. Unfortunately, these parents have orphaned us. The first parent, our legislature,
passed the Aadhaar related legislation as a money bill, which means it did not get debated in the Rajya Sabha at all. The second parent, our executive, has been indirectly making Aadhaar mandatory by making it
compulsory to link it to several other services. There is no option for those who do not have Aadhaar or those who do not want to link it. Our last resort, our judiciary, has been patiently wearing down our complaints by
not substantially hearing the several Aadhaar related matters before it for the last two and a half years.
So, bereft of any parental support, here I stand.
Thank you for listening to my story. I am Rajesh Mehar, a law abiding citizen of India until the next Aadhaar linking deadline. I am now an orphan of our democracy. Will civil society adopt me?
(Rajesh Mehar is a father of two beautiful children and also works for an IT company. He does not have Aadhaar yet.)
My was or the highway is the message emanating from the top. Decision with huge implications are taken without proper consultation or planning. Shoot first and then take aim ?
During Indira Gandhi Emergency the opposition could hide from the government.
With Adhaar the opposition does not stand a chance. Their bank account will be shut down. Their mobile will be tracked. Their train bookings will be tracked etc etc
Adhaar in its extreme and ubiquitous avataar demands unquestioning trust in a soul less government which believes anti-government equates to being anti-national and rampantly misuses sedition laws against harmless opponents.
Will the Supreme Court save us from this tyranny ?
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/telangana-woman-kills-husband-acid-attack-boyfriend-plastic-surgery/1/1107543.html
Story is almost smmae here , Till now I am Nir-Aadhar and when this month I have decides to have one aadhar for me , I have found , Getting new Aadhar is very very tough now, Now You need to pay for your late lateefi,
very
Story is almost same here , Till now I am Nir-Aadhar and when this month I have decides to have one Aadhar for me , I have found , Getting new Aadhar is very very tough now, Now You need to pay for your late lateefi,
Very few bank branch and center are available where you can have new Addhar but they also processing in very few numbers
You may need to wait for 4-5 days to get chance to appear for registration of your biometrics.
I got alert when I come to know that one of my friend’s kids are not able to get admission in multiple schools without Aadhar and soon I also need admission for my kid.
So I become forced to go for Aadhar now.
Why is this hurry for Government First they bring some time lines then forced school to verify Aadhar for kids even in Nursery classes and stop all the temporary Aadhar Kendra
Also banks Aadhar Kendra are in rotations for new Aadhar registrations for few weeks it is available in X branch/banks and in few weeks it closed and some Other Bank or new registration center started.
This is pure torture on us nothing else...
http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/over-500-missing-children-reunited-with-their-family-via-aadhaar-uidai-ceo-117112400530_1.html
succumbed to family pressure and got it and, in fact, got it for my 92-yr-old mother also!
I think having an identity helps us as citizens, but since I had had a PAN for many years (my mother also) I did not see the need for another all-India identity. PAN could have been extended to become the one universal Indian identity, regardless of whether one paid taxes or not. However, the ITD was not prepared to cooperate; enter UIDAI.. ITD is a cost to the Indian tax-payer, and sooner it is disbanded, the better for all of us. Further, government itself is a cost, and the sooner we realize this and reduce the administrative costs of government, the better for all of us. This will require changes in the way we measure GDP - counting the same money again and again is misleading - there is only so much production and value-added activity, and even that has to be set off against the resources consumed, before we have a clear idea of whether the nation is in fact better off each year.. Which economist/sociologist will bell this cat? Trading may lead to short term profits for a few, but is it carried out in an ethical manner, or does hoarding and cartelization (which covers even manufacturers!) skew the profits in favour of those few? IMO we should trust Indian citizens, and allow them to become self-regulating. There can be one audit body that takes up sample cases for investigation to keep everyone on the straight and narrow, and even this could be a citizen's body. Of course, the practice of getting one's or one's company's finances audited by an independent auditor should not be thrown out .. But having huge governmental bodies with sweeping powers to raid any citizen/organization without adequate judicial oversight for the protection of the rights of the citizen/organization is uncalled for. The government and enforcement agencies are for the benefit of the citizens, and, in the final analysis, for the weakest and most voiceless of the citizens, before all others.. Unfortunately, that is not how it seems to work..
Probably, there is a long list of 'patriotic citizens of this country' turned in to 'orphans', who are so very desperate to migrate out of India, because of some steps taken by Mr. Modi, but like everybody else I'm also CONVINCED that Mr. Modi and his team is threatening (to commit suicide if such orphans leave country) them. Also, I'm optimist that someday some of the 'generous donours' of this country would be able to collect (and donate) enough money so that Aamir Khan - another 'insecure' orphan (became after May 2014, probably realized in March 15 and spelled in November 2015) with his family, could migrate from this country.
I think we know, lot many Indians are settled (or even working at present) in different countries. Looking forward to see a/an report/article, capturing the number of citizens, who have migrated from other countries where SSN (or some form of it, may be like AADHAR) tool is deployed as they couldn't cope up with the projected (or real) rigidity of such mechanism which is in effect there, from decades. Optimist that someday, some 'RAAJESSH KEHAR' would share the report of such an analysis when he gets 'decently paid' by the 'elements'. Also may be Indians from such countries have packed their bags for 'ghar wapsi' from Middle-east, Americas (US and Canada), Singapore and wherever else, they felt suffocated for similar reasons.
May be we are so used to lawlessness, that we are subtly/openly raising slogan 'long live anarchy', whether knowingly or unknowingly, as the crackdown by Modi Government has started.
@Let us see- i found it difficult to follow your writing...its very broken...seems some sentences stitched together.
As for Aadhar issue, over a billion Indian residents have already procured one, voluntarily or coercised by the Govt, and the SC declaring it unconstitutional at this stage serves little purpose. It's a pity there is no authority which can Force SC to hear a case expeditiously, and one can only put up with its whims and fancies, like we have become used to doing with the other two arrogant 'pillars' of our democracy - the legislature and the Executive.
i.e AI etc. its fast changing world. Should we trail behind or adapt it? yes, the problems are bound to come.
This is the real threat to India's future, not dictatorial demagogues. A horde of literate, but uneducated minions who can only stick themselves to the tails of a politician, and then mindlessly repeat whatever he says.
Agreed that Aadhar is a 'Baby step' in right direction. But the process is 'Half Baked'. If any of you know or find a solution for my problem please let me know. If you are influential or in Right place, please take this issue to the notice of the concerned authorities. I request Money Life foundation also to take up this issue.