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Please Endorse: Citizens Against UID

By Citizens Against UID

29 April, 2010
Countercurrents.org

Kindly endorse the campaign against Unique Identification Number (UID), government of India's effort to give a number to every Indian citizen like they do to cattle before they are led to the slaughter house. It's kind of racial profiling which can be abused in a country like India where they use the census data to butcher people in riots ( remember the Gujarat pogrom). It's a violation of one's privacy, human rights and a threat to democracy. And they are tagging it with the ongoing census. There is a great threat that the information collected through census can be passed onto the UID authority, which is headed by a corporate CEO. It can be easily stated that it's not the Maoists the 'greatest internal threat' to Indian democracy, but the UID is. Please endorse this statement and pass it on to your friends and relatives who value Indian democracy.Please endorse the statement by clicking here

We, representatives of people’ movements, mass organizations, institutions and concerned individuals including all the undersigned strongly oppose the potential tracking and profiling based techno-governance tools such as the Unique Identification number (UID) by the Government of India and the manner in which legitimate democratic processes have been undermined through this.

The proposed UID project seems to be perched on an anti-people perspective and violates a number of basic rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India including Articles 14, 15, 17, 19 and 21 viz., the Rights to equality, dignity, privacy, expression and the right not to be discriminated against, The project seems to be aimed at profiling people by pooling in biometric and retinal data pertaining to an individual and could be potentially discriminatory in a country where caste identity is the most predominant socio-political marker. Further, it is a travesty on the dignity and privacy of individuals. At another level, given the fact that more than one third of our population live below the substantial level called “poverty line” and without literacy & numeracy, a large section of our population would find itself unable to handle this number in a meaningful way and thus face the danger of virtually stripped of their citizenship and thereby the very legitimacy of their existence on the land of this country.

This project which has been launched at a budgeted cost of INR 1900 Crores for the year 2010-2011 in a country where the Government has officially declared that 400 million of its citizens are living below poverty line is , thus an insult to the dignity of the Peoples of India. The project headed by a person of the rank of the Union Cabinet Minister, whose appointment was not transparent and a staff overhead of more than 100 is also working under the most non-transparent processes and we fear that the decisions are made and influenced by vested private and corporate interests who have had a record of anti-people and anti-democratic activities. There is no wide public discussion on the feasibility or desirability of the project.

It is in this context that we have serious objections to the way the decadal census process is being used to pitch the UID process and no discussion on this has happened in any of the democratic forums including the Parliament, which also transgresses n the right to dignity and privacy of individuals and their choice to opt out of the UID process. If the UID continues to be tagged with the Census process – we would also consider boycotting the same. It is a matter of great concern that the powers that be have deliberately kept silent on the inter linkage between the UID and current mode of census
In this situation it is not clear which decisions are being made by the private sector or by the elected representatives. There are proposals within this project that will result in changes to the PDS, food subsidy, MGNREGS etc are being put forward by the Planning commission and UIDAI. They suggest that instead of food grains, cash subsidies must be given to beneficiaries which can be encashed at public or private sector shops.

In the past the changes in policy were achieved through influence and lobbying, but now entrepreneurs have been appointed as non-politicians with cabinet rank. While the project was hailed as a “gamechanger” and a welfare measure, the public at large have expressed growing concerns about the UID and its implications for ordinary citizens. Many questions are being raised about the nature, status and aims of the scheme. Countries such as the UK, Australia and the USA have found similar measures unworkable due to the serious probability of abuse and the strong opposition of the public. There is a huge expenditure proposed for the UID. The UID would affect every citizen. We as groups and individuals feel the need to engage the larger public in an open discussion about the UID and its proposed scope, implementation, benefits and risks. We are also mobilising public opinion on issues and concerns about the UID.
We the undersigned demand that


> the UID project be scrapped with immediate effect
> all the transactions undertaken by the UIDAI project be scrutinised by an accountable > public body from the democratic governance structure in a transparent manner taking into consideration the concerns of the all the peoples before venturing into the implementation stage
> the financial and technological implications and the costs incurred so far, including details of contracts entered into with respect to the UID project be made transparent
> the Census and UID project be forthwith de-linked

Endorsed by
Moving Republic, Bangalore
Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore
Citizens Action Forum, Bangalore
PUCL, Karnataka.
Slum Janandolana
Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore
Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF)
PEACE, New Delhi
Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, Badvani(MP)
South Indian Cell for Human Rights Education & Monitoring (SICHREM), bangalore
Posco Prathirodh Sangram Samithi, Orissa
Adivasi Mulvasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Jharkhand
Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, Himachal Pradesh
National Hawkers Federation
Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF)
Nagpur Municipal Corporation Employees Union
Nadi Ghati Morcha, Chhattisgarh
Peoples’ Solidarity Concerns- Bangalore
Janvikas, Orissa
Other Media Communications, Bangalore
Visual search, Bangalore
Theeradesa MahilaVedi, Kerala
National Coastal Women’s Movement, Chennai
Alliance of women’s right in Disaster(ANWORD), Chennai
Kerala Tourism watch
Dalit Women’s Forum, Andhra Pradesh
Centre for Education and Documentation, Mumbai
IPTA (Bihar)
EKTA (commitee for communal amity), Mumbai
EQATIONS, Bangalore
Openspace, Bangalore
Rajadhari Basti Uriyan Parishad, Orissa
Chhattisgarh Kisan Mazdoor Vikas Kendra
Asangatit karmakar Shramik Union, UP
Munsikhan Mawat vikas Community Foundation, Alwar, Rajasthan
Pondichery Slum Dwellers Federation
Himpravesh, solar, Himachal Pradesh
Chhattisgarh Action Reserch Team (CART), Raipur
ViBGYOR Film Collective, Kerala
Adivasi, Sarumgi Vikas Sangh, Gujarat
Samata, Orissa
Society for Culture & Development, Kerala
Youth Initiative for Leadership Training, Kerala
Patabhedam Magazine, Calicut, Kerala
Global Alternate Information Applications(GAIA), Thrissur, Kerala
Kabani – The Other Direction, Kerala
Pedestrian Pictures, Bangalore
Just Peace Foundation, Manipur
Concern, IISc, Bangalore
New Socialist Alternative, Karnataka
Infochange India
Privacy Network in Asia
Countercurrents.org

Individuals
Anivar Aravind
Vinay Byndoor,
Vinay Srinivasa
Bobby Kunju
Chittaranjan Singh (PUCL-UP)
Hiren Gandhi , Darsan, Ahamedabad
Dr SINILAM , KSS, INSOCO, Kerala
Sakthiman Ghosh, Kolkotta
Raajen singh ,Social Activist, Mumbai
Sarasila Pradhan, Orissa
Animanand Ekka, Chhattisgarh
Surekha Kanwar, Chhattisgarh
Kumud Nandgave, Raipur, Chattisgarh
Sanjay Sachan, Laxmi Grameena Vikas Samsthan, UP
Azma Azis, UP
Jannu Anand , nagpur
Deen Dayal Vyas, Chethana Sansthan, Alwar, Rajasthan
Dharmapat Ranjit, Kandhamal, Orissa
Rajan, Indo Global Social Service Society, bangalore’
Subaih Dehariya, Villege Andol, Madhya Pradesh
Bhuvanlal Dehariya,Villege Andol,Madhya Pradesh
Ramsumes Pal, Madhya Pradesh
M. Latha Mageswari, Mahila Milan, Pondicheri
P. Satyakama , WORD, Puduchery
J.S Dhukhia, Solar, Himachal Prasesh
Bibin K R Rai , Officer, Urban Poverty IGSSS, New Delhi
Dr Mohan Sigh Panwar, Daliyon ka Daghiya , Uttarkhat
RP Sahi, Participatory Action Group, Lucknow
waheeda Rehman, Jan Swaraj Trust, Ahmedabad
Qureshi Mohd. Arif, Jan Swaraj Trust, Ahmedabad
Asha Makade, Chhattisgarh Action Reserch Team (CART), Raipur
Vijayakumar H Kulkarni, Karnataka
Deliakar, CNDP, New Delhi
Alok Mohanti , Orissa
Imran khan, Journalist, Indian Express
Indu Praksh Singh
Ruchi Gupta
Dr. T T Sreekumar, National University of Singapore
Anil Tharayath Varghese, Delhi
Sebin Abraham Jacob
Pushpa Achanta, Bangalore
Anand Bala, Banagalore
Mahtab Alam, Civil Rights’ Activist and Journalist
P K Sundaram, Ph.D. Researcher, JNU
Sravanthi Kollu, Bangalore.
Praveen Arimbrathodiyil, REDHAT, Pune
Javed Iqbal, Mumbai
Ashik S, Software Engineer, Thiruvananthapuram
John Samuel, Infochange News and Features
Anusha Hariharan,JNU, New Delhi
K. Rahul Sharma, TERI University, New Delhi
Smitha.Nair, JNU, Delhi
Anu Fern
Sadik P K
Jenny Rowena, Miranda House, Univ of Delhi
Gopal Krishna, ToxicsWatch Alliance, New Delhi
Nidhi Agarwal, Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh.
Deepa Vasudevan, Kerala
Neelan, chief executive Editor, amrita News , amrita T.V , Trivandrum, Kerala
R. Ramakumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Sukla Sen, Mumbai
Malish C M, IIT Delhi, New Delhi
J. T. D’souza , Mumbai
Vickram Crishna , Mumbai
Shazia Nigar, student, Delhi University.
S. Sanjeev, Thiruvananthapuram
Asit , New delhi
Uditi Sen, kolkata & London
Seema Duhan

Endorse this citizen statement on UID by clicking here or sending a mail to anivar at movingrepublic.org