Aadhaar
| Aadhaar | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Country | India |
| Launched | 28 January 2009 |
| Budget | ₹66.7832 billion (US$990 million) (up-to August 2015) |
| Website | uidai |
Aadhaar is a 12 digit unique-identity number issued to an Indian resident based on their biometric and demographic data. The data is collected by "Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)", a central government agency of India, and stored into a central database. It is considered the world's largest national identification number project.
As of March 2016[update], the original legislation to back UIDAI is still pending in the Parliament of India. However, on 3 March 2016, a new money bill was introduced in the Parliament for the purpose. On 11 March 2016, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. On 26 March 2016, this Act was notified in the Gazette of India.
Some civil liberty groups, like Citizens Forum for Civil Liberties and Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), have opposed the project on privacy concerns.
On 23 September 2013, the Supreme Court of India issued an interim order saying that "no person should suffer for not getting Aadhaar" as the government cannot deny a service to a resident if s/he does not possess Aadhaar, as it is voluntary and not mandatory. In another interim order on 11 August 2015, the Supreme Court of India ruled that "UIDAI/Aadhaar will not be used for any other purposes except PDS, kerosene and LPG distribution system", and made it clear that even for availing these facilities Aadhaar card will not be mandatory. As of January 2017, 99% of Indians aged 18 and above have Aadhaar cards as more than 1,111,000,000 residents have enrolled. This accounts for 91.7% coverage of the total population in India.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up by the Government of India in January 2009,as an attached office under aegis of Planning Commission vide its a gazette notification. The UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (termed as Aadhaar) to all the residents of India. As per the notification, the UIDAI has been given the responsibility to lay down plan and policies to implement UID scheme, to own and operate the UID database and be responsible for its updation and maintenance on an ongoing basis. The implementation of UID scheme entails generation and assignment of UID to residents; defining mechanisms and processes for interlinking UID with partner databases; operation and management of all stages of UID life cycle; framing policies and procedures for updation mechanism and defining usage and applicability of UID for delivery of various services among others. The number is linked to the resident's basic demographic and biometric information such as photograph, ten fingerprints and two iris scans, which are stored in a centralised database.
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