On Aadhaar....

The government is fast-tracking the move to provide statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as the Union cabinet is expected to approve on Tuesday a long pending legislation to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.
The urgency to provide statutory status to the UIDAI comes after the Supreme Court last month said that the Aadhaar can only be issued to those with proven Indian nationality and cannot be made mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies. The National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, is also aimed at protecting the privacy of the information that is accessed during the processing of the Aadhaar card.
The Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI is functioning as an executive body under the Planning Commission with a mandate to issue 12-digit unique identification number called Aadhaar linked to a person's demographic and biometric information.
Stung with the recent SC order, UPA managers are desperate to save the government’s showpiece initiative that aims at ensuring transparency in accessing public services and payment of subsidies.
The Bill to provide the UIDAI legal backing was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2010 and introduced in the Rajya Sabha in December same year, but was put on the backburner after the standing committee on finance led by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha rejected it and sent back for reconsideration.
 There was a feeling in the government that legally UIDAI can continue functioning even without legislative backing and focus was on enrolling maximum number of people.
The UIDAI would also move the SC to explain its position related to the Aadhaar scheme, touted as UPA’s game-changer in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.


The Union Cabinet cleared the legislation to grant legal backing to the Aadhaar scheme and the UIDAI.
The urgency to provide statutory status to UIDAI came after the Supreme Court last month said Aadhaar could only be issued to those with proven Indian nationality and could not be made mandatory for accessing public services and subsidies.
The National Identification Authority of India Bill also aims to protect the privacy of information that is accessed during the processing of Aadhaar card. “The right to privacy is protected under the bill,” the official said.
The bill was not to circumvent the apex court order but was aimed at providing regulatory framework, the official said, adding that the order was related to use of Aadhaar.
Issues related to citizenship have to be dealt with by ministries and departments concerned as they decide eligibility of beneficiaries. It was argued that benefit transfer through Aadhaar was a governance reform to infuse transparency and curb leakages. It had nothing to do with the “contentious” issue of illegal immigrants, the official said.