UIDAI snippets

The Centre has taken a concrete step to empower IT czar Nandan Nilekani-headed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), in its bid to draft a fresh legislation to give legal sanctity to the authority. Sources said that the draft to legalize UIDAI is at a conceptualization stage, and once the legislation gets the Parliament’s nod it will get legal status, ensuring it can enrol and provide unique number to all residents across the country. UIDAI, which is mandated to enrol 200 million residents by March, is also likelyto get an independent status. Now, it is under the Planning Commission. The voluntary facility will ensure that thousands of crores worth of welfare schemes reach the aam admi by helping the poor to open their bank accounts, avail of rural job schemes and food security programmes. It is expected to make dispensation of government services more efficient. The government’s fresh move comes in the backdrop of the Parliamentary standing committee on finance ridiculing the UIDAI, and the home ministry also raising objections on the authority’s mandate. The home ministry had joined issue with UIDAI, saying the Registrar General of India (RGI) akin to the Authority was compiling biometric details to build a National Population Register (NPR). Though the UIDAI was asked to collect biometric details of up to 20 crore citizens till March, the arrangement was that the same data can be used by the RGI for preparing NPR. But, now RGI is refusing to use the data collected by UIDAI, claiming it was not foolproof. The reason: the Authority’s methodology raised security concern and it did not meet the Union Cabinet’s approval. It was argued that RGI was the only authority legally empowered to enumerate data on the population. Earlier, the Planning Commission had suggested rules be amended so that all data, collected by the Authority, can be used by RGI.