AADHAAR CARD - GOVERNANCE
News: Centre
gives nod for States to authenticate Aadhaar of prisoners
What's in the news?
● The
Union Home Ministry has notified
that prison authorities across States are allowed to conduct authentication of
prison inmates through Aadhaar for extending benefits such as meeting with
relatives and legal aid.
Key takeaways:
● The
Ministry said the exercise was
voluntary.
● Prison is a State subject.
● The
notification has been issued under Rule 5 of the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare,
Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, 2020 and the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of
Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
● The
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has agreed to accept the
Prisoner Induction Document (PID) as a valid document for enrolment or update
of Aadhaar.
Significance of the move:
● Entitlements to the
prison inmates: Through this Aadhaar authentication
some entitlements like correctional reform measures, health, skilling,
vocational training, interview with relatives, legal aid, etc will be available
to the prison inmates.
● Regulation of prison
activities: By enrolling prisoners to Aadhaar,
various aspects of day-to-day prison administration such as producing before
court, return to prison, transport, health facilities, shifting to hospital
outside the campus, interviews, free legal aid, parole, temporary release
mechanisms, education/vocational training, release from prisons etc. could be
regulated.
Aadhaar:
● A
12-digit unique identity for every
Indian individual, including children and infants.
● Available
to all the resident Indians.
● It
contains all details of demographic and
biometric information.
● It
is a voluntary service that every
resident can avail irrespective of present documentation.
● Each
individual will be given a single unique Aadhaar ID number.
● Aadhaar
will provide a universal identity infrastructure which can be used by any identity-based
application (like ration card, passport, etc.)
● Issuing authority: Unique Identification Authority of
India.
About UIDAI:
Statutory Authority:
● The
UIDAI is a statutory authority established on 12th July 2016 by the Government
of India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.
● The
UIDAI was initially set up by the Government of India in January 2009, as an
attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission.
Mandate:
● The
UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number
(Aadhaar) to all the residents of India.
● As
of 31st October 2021, UIDAI had issued 131.68 crore Aadhaar numbers.
Aadhar Act 2016:
● The
Act provides for an efficient,
transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits, and services to
citizens through the assignment of Unique Identity Numbers.
● Under
the act, biometric and demographic information of the resident would be
verified post which the Aadhaar number would be issued. The Aadhaar number
would be a twelve-digit number issued by the authority (UIDAI).
● The
act provides the offences and penalties for offences under the Act. It also
provides which information can be submitted, on request by the entity, by the
Authority.
New Amendment under Aadhar (enrollment and update)
Regulation, 2019:
1. Updating the documents:
● As
per the regulations earlier, residents who were older than 15 years at the time
of enrollment were recommended to update their biometric data every 10 years.
● The
process of updating documents is not
mandatory.
2. Ensuring accuracy:
● This
process will help in ensuring the accuracy of information in the Central
Identities Data Repository (CIDR).
3. Demographic information:
● The
amendment of the Aadhaar regulation is limited
to updating demographic information and does not involve biometric data such as
fingerprints.
Supreme Court Judgement:
● In
2018, the Supreme Court had struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act.
● Section
57 of the Aadhaar Act essentially allowed private entities to collect citizens’
Aadhaar details. While reading down the provision, the top court had called it
“unconstitutional”.
● Later,
the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 was issued which allowed
banks and telecom operators to collect Aadhaar details as a proof of identity.
Advantages of Aadhar:
1. Eliminate the leakages:
Increasing the accuracy of Aadhaar information is likely to help the government
eliminate the leakage of benefit transfers from various schemes.
2. Promoting Transparency and Good Governance: Aadhaar
number is verifiable in an online, cost-effective way.
3. Direct Benefit Transfer:
Aadhar Card linked bank accounts will get their set of LPG Subsidy directly
accredited in the bank account.
4. People-Centric Governance:
Aadhaar is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public
sector delivery reforms, managing fiscal budgets, increasing convenience and
promoting hassle-free people-centric governance.