Aadhaar now must for government schemes, benefits

NEW DELHI: The use of Aadhaar identity cards is set to become mandatory for all central and state government subsidies and benefits which require funding from the central exchequer with the Centre notifying the unique identity (UID) regulations.

While the law had empowered the Centre to mandate use of Aadhaar, the rules stipulate any agency -such as the oil ministry dealing with cooking gas or HRD's scholarship schemes --has to ensure all beneficiaries are enrolled under UID.For this, they have been asked to tie up with registrars or enrol individuals themselves.

“Ministries will have to notify schemes for which Aadhaar number is required. In case someone does not have Aadhaar, he will be asked to enrol for the same. If enrolment facilities are not in a convenient location, the agency has to ensure that people are not left in the lurch,“ said Ajay Bhushan Pandey , CEO of UIDAI.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of the UIDAI, said the regulations strongly address privacy concerns over Aadhaar misuse by incorporating a three-year jail term for an offence. “The big brother concern has been dealt with. If a government or private entity uses Aadhaar number for some other purpose... if a company shares the data, it becomes a criminal offence,“ Pandey said.

The particular clause has been inserted to address concerns raised by civil society groups that mandating Aadhaar will exclude genuine beneficiaries, who do not possess a UID, from government schemes.The rules mean the onus will now be on agencies like oil firms or banks to make sure beneficiaries have Aadhaar numbers. The new law and its regulations will help the Centre expand the ambit of UID to virtually all government schemes be it MGNREGA, pensions, cooking gas, PDS, EPF and Jan Dhan accounts.