Rashmani, daughter of a daily wager from Jharkhand, was promised a job in Delhi by an agent in 2017.
As her family was under tremendous economic pressure, they agreed.
However, after boarding the train with the agent, Rashmani sensed trouble and escaped at the Fatehpur station.
She was rescued by the railway police and was kept at a shelter home where she was named Rashi.
When several attempts to get to her native place failed, the police sent her to the women shelter home in Allahabad.
Arti Singh, superintendent of Women Shelter Home in Lucknow, said: "In July, she was brought to Lucknow for rehabilitation. We applied for her Aadhaar card and it was rejected. In the sixth attempt, it showed duplication. Thereafter, the original address was traced."
Finally, Rashmani has been taken to Jharkhand and reunited with her family.
In March this year, a speech-impaired 12-year-old girl was reunited with her parents after a gap of two years, with the help of her fingerprints on an Aadhar card.
One such question these days is creating confusion in the minds of people that whether someone can hack a bank account if he/she gets to know your Aadhaar number? No doubt Aadhaar card these days is one of the crucial documents which is essential to comply with several guidelines and rules as it also acts as a proof of identity and other purposes as well.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Tuesday shared a valuable piece of information for people on its official Twitter handle addressing the basic question.
Question: "If someone knows my Aadhaar number, then he can also hack my bank account."
Busting the myth, UIDAI tweeted, “Aadhaar is a symbol of trust. Bank account cannot be hacked just by knowing the Aadhaar number.”
The UIDIA further wrote, "if you don’t wish to disclose your Aadhaar number, then you can use VID or Masked Aadhaar, it is valid and widely accepted."
UIDIA on its official website has also clarified that, just as by merely knowing your ATM card number, no one can withdraw money from the ATM machine; by knowing your Aadhaar number alone, no one can hack into your bank account and withdraw money.
Your bank account is safe if you don’t part with your PIN/OTP given by banks.
#AadhaarMythBusters #aadhaarfacts
— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) September 20, 2022
Bank account cannot be hacked just by knowing the Aadhaar number.
If you don’t wish to disclose your #Aadhaar number, then you can use VID or Masked Aadhaar, it is valid and widely accepted.
AADHAAR - A SYMBOL OF TRUST
@mygovindia @GoI_MeitY pic.twitter.com/i92gBb0py9
At present, children after the age of 5 and 15 years are required to update their biometrics for Aadhaar.
"UIDAI will encourage people to update their biometrics, demographics etc., once in 10 years. Over time, it will push people to update Aadhaar. Once a person is over a certain age, say 70 years, then it will not be required," one of the officials said.
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has enrolled almost all adults in the country, barring a small percentage of people in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Ladakh.
"Enrolment started late in Meghalaya because of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) issue. In Nagaland and Ladakh, some of the remote areas are left to be covered.
"Aadhaar saturation level among adult residents is now near universal and overall saturation level is 93.65 per cent. Total fresh enrolment in August was only 24.2 lakh," the official added.
UIDAI has more than 50,000 enrolment centres and is in the process of onboarding 1.5 lakh postmen who will initially update mobile numbers and addresses of Aadhaar holders.
It is now in talks with states to bring group-oriented welfare schemes on its platform as it will help de-duplication of beneficiaries, prevent leakages of funds and save public money.
The official said even the aviation ministry's DigiYatra, which aims to make journeys for travellers paperless, will be linked to Aadhaar for verification of travellers.
Over Rs 980 crore has been spent by the UIDAI since 2019-2020 on Aadhaar enrolments and updates, while nearly 5.99 lakh Aadhaars have been declared void for being duplicate as of May 31, 2022.
As per government data, expenditure of Rs 141.60 crore, Rs 320 crore and Rs 519.9 crore were incurred in Aadhaar enrolments and updates in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
Officials said that the UIDAI has taken adequate steps to address duplicate or multiple Aadhaar generation issues and regular efforts are made to upgrade systems and procedures. The demographic matching mechanism has been further strengthened, biometric matching of all new enrolments is ensured and 'Face' has been included as a new modality (in addition to fingerprint and iris) for de-duplication.
Moreover, the UIDAI, through its registrars, ensures provision for Aadhaar enrollment and updates to residents. As on June 30, more than 57,000 Aadhaar centres are active across the country, while around 34,500 tablet and mobile-based machines are also functional in the field which is used for updating mobile number or email id in Aadhaar and to provide facility for Aadhaar enrolment for children under the age group of 0-5.
Besides, the UIDAI also permits residents to update their demographic details such as Name (minor change), date of birth, gender, and address online through myAadhaar portal.
It is called an automated multi-commodity grain dispensing machine. The machine is equipped with a biometric system with a touch screen where the beneficiary will have to enter the Aadhaar card or ration number. Upon authentication, the foodgrain allocated to the beneficiary will be automatically filled in bags kept under the machine.
This machine works like a bank ATM and will be installed on a trial basis in Bhubaneswar. The pilot project will be part of government's initiative to ensure food supplies.
This will be Odisha's first grain ATM. After the successful completion of this pilot project, plans will be made to install these food supply machines across the state. This will not only benefit the consumers, but will also ensure right quantity of ration to the beneficiaries. There will be transparency in the food distribution system and save the time.
Worth mentioning, the Odisha government and the World Food Programme (WFP) had signed four partnership agreements and initiated six new projects in 2021.
Transformation of the public distribution system and paddy procurement, grain ATM and smart mobile storage units were some of the projects.
The linking of Aadhaar cards with ration cards will ensure that no valid beneficiary is left without his or her due share of food grains.
Linking Aadhaar cards with ration cards is important in view of the benefits for the migrant population, who are deprived of their entitled food grains in the place of their temporary work place, especially under the National Food Security Act.
The One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) was launched in August 2019 for helping the daily wagers, temporary workers and migrants to avail benefits of the subsidised food grains from an outlet near them.
"There are 80 crore beneficiaries under this scheme. As of mid-February, as many as 96 per cent beneficiaries had been enrolled under ONORC. Several states have to catch up to make this 100 per cent and therefore, this extension has been given for another three months," said an official.
The earlier deadline of December 31, 2021 was similarly extended till March 31, 2022 and now, it is extended to June 30, 2022.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Bill 2021, piloted by Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, was passed by a voice vote after a brief discussion during which some opposition members demanded that it be referred to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny.
After the Bill's passage, Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid continuous protest by opposition members.
Rejecting the demand for referring the Bill to a panel, Rijiju said various proposals which are part of the bill have already been suggested and recommended by the Standing Committee of Law and Personnel.
The minister further said that the bill will cleanse the election system and eliminate multiple entries.
He further said the government wanted a full debate on the Bill but could not do so because of the uproar in the House.
The minister said that the Bill, which is gender neutral and has four qualifying dates for entry into electoral roll, is in consonance with the Supreme Court's ruling.
Most of the opposition members demanded that the Bill may be referred to the standing committee for scrutiny and detailed deliberations.
Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Supriya Sule of the NCP wondered why this important Bill was being pushed in a tearing hurry by the government.
Many opposition members suggested for garnering public opinion on such an important legislation.
This is no way to pass a legislation and there should be a proper debate and discussion on this, said N K Premchandran of the RSP.
Others who opposed the Bill included Ritesh Pandey (BSP), Kalyan Banerjee (TMC), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM) and E T Mohammed Basheer.
The Bill seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters "for the purpose of establishing the identity".
It also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar number from "persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in electoral roll, and to identify registration of name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency".
At the same time, the amendment Bill makes it clear that "no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed".
Such people will be allowed to furnish other alternative documents as may be prescribed.
According to the Bill circulated to Lok Sabha members ahead of its introduction, various sections of the Representation of the People Act will be amended.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill states that Section 23 of the RP Act will be amended to allow linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem "to curb the menace of multiple enrolment of the same person in different places".
Amendment to Section 14 of the RP Act will allow to have four "qualifying" dates for eligible people to register as voters.
As of now, January 1 of every year is the sole qualifying date.
People who turn 18 on or before January 1 can register as voters. Those turning 18 after that have to wait for one whole year to register as voters.
Now, "the 1st day of January, 1st day of April, 1st day of July and 1st day of October in a calendar year" will be the qualifying dates in relation to the preparation or revision of electoral rolls.
Amendment to Section 20 of the RP Act, 1950 and Section 60 of the RP Act, 1951 will allow the elections become gender neutral for service voters.
The amendment will also help replace the word "wife" with the word "spouse" making the statutes "gender neutral".
An Armyman's wife is entitled to be enrolled as a service voter, but a woman Army officer's husband is not, according to provisions in the electoral law. With "wife" being replaced by the term "spouse", this will change.
Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh in October.
Earlier, on January 9, some officials from the neighbouring State accompanied by Vijayanagaram Collector had reached Kotia and nearby places to distribute blanket and solar lights. Following the incident, the Koraput district officials were in a tizzy and had undertaken a spot visit to assess the situation.
Besides, residents of two more villages of Koraput and Gajapati districts were lured by the Andhra Pradesh government with basic facilities.
Taking advantage of the Odisha government’s indifference to issues of residents of Raipada village of Koraput and Khudi Gudi village of Gajapati, the Andhra government is running a parallel administration by providing electricity and drinking water facilities. Besides, Anganwadi workers of Andhra have been giving services in the two villages. Moreover, elderly persons of the village have been getting old age pension from the neighbouring State.
The letter mentioned that farmers can register themselves with Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Large Area Multipurpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPCS) by submitting voter ID card, Kisan Credit Card or Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana card.
The Food Supplies department further stated, to update the database, farmers are requested to provide Aadhaar card. However, submission of Aadhaar card is not mandatory, the letter noted.
The State government has set a tentative target to procure about 53 lakh tonnes of paddy during Kharif and Rabi seasons of 2017-18.
The paddy procurement, which has started on November 1, would continue in the State till April 2018 through 2,576 PACS.
Food Supplies Minister Surya Narayan Patro has said the proceeds of paddy sold to the State government will be credited to bank account of farmers within 24 hours of procurement.
The minister informed the minimum support price (MSP) of paddy has been fixed at Rs 1,550 per quintal.
https://youtu.be/IsaaHulDBlw
Citing an order passed by the apex court, the Centre said it was the SC which had approved the norm for mandatory Aadhaar-mobile phone linkage in the Lokniti Foundation case on February 6 with a window of one year. The 113-page affidavit was filed through advocate Zoheb Hossain.
The Centre said that the deadline for linkage of Aadhaar with mobile phone number cannot be modified by the government unilaterally as it is fixed by the Supreme Court. Besides, it has also decided to extend the deadline for linking Aadhaar with existing bank accounts till March 31.
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The assertion acquires significance considering that while hearing a separate petition on Monday challenging the mandatory linking of mobile phones with Aadhaar, a two-judge bench of the SC had sought the government's response in next four weeks.
A Constitution bench will hear a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of Aadhaar on the ground that it violated citizens' right to privacy.
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In its fresh affidavit, the Centre said: "Until March 31, existing bank accounts will not be made non-operational for not linking with Aadhaar. But as far as opening new bank accounts are concerned, Aadhaar or enrolment ID must be given as proof of identity. For existing account holders, the deadline for Aadhaar-based verification is being extended to March 31 and no coercive action will be taken till then."
Meanwhile, the government has introduced three new methods, including one time password (OTP), Aadhaar app and IVRS facility, to link the 12-digit Aadhaar number with mobile numbers.
Though as per government rules Aadhaar card registration should be made free of cost, staff at the Jana Seva Kendras have been asking villagers to pay Rs 100 to Rs 150 per person.
Similarly, the kendra staff are taking Rs 100 for correction in Aadhaar card instead of Rs 25, which is fixed by the government.
"As the government has given contracts to private agencies for the registration job, staff of those agencies demand money from us. I paid Rs 150 to the Jharadiha Jana Seva Kendra staff to get registered for an Aadhaar card," said Anand Singh, a resident of Jharadiha village.
"When I raised an objection to their demand for money, the staff of the kendra asked me to seek help of State government officials for an Aadhaar card," Singh added.
Another villager Ram Narayan Prusty said, "Staff of the Bahalda Jana Seva Kendra said they are taking money for the equipment which they bought to prepare the Aadhaar card.
Refuting the charges, Siddharth Pal, Aadhaar Card nodal officer, Rairangpur block, said, "As per the government rules, the registration is done free of cost and we have not received any complaint on demand for money."
Rupak Kumar Das, assistant collector, Rairangpur said, "We have not received any complaint so far. However, if someone files a complaint with us, action will be taken as per law."
The Aadhaar Card centres are charging fee of about Rs 50- Rs 200 for enrolling people for the unique identification number which is officially meant to be provided free.
“From validating mobile connections to banks, Aadhaar is now an important document. The agency authorized to enroll people for Aadhaar cards is extracting money from us,” said Joseph Murmu, a beneficiary.
Aadhaar card centres exploiting the public by collecting money for free services has led to massive resentment as nearly 4,000 to 5,000 people are turning up at 40 to 45 registration centres in the district on a daily basis.
Also Read: Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline extended till Dec 31
The staff managing such centres claim that as neither the government nor the agencies that have hired them are paying their dues, they are forced to collect money from the public.
“We are helpless as we have to make staff payments and meet other expenses,” Nijamal Adakadi, a staff at a registration centre said.
Manmath Pani, ADM, Balasore on the other hand claimed that they are yet to receive any complaints regarding collection of money at Aadhaar centres.
“As per provision, no fee will be collected for new enrollments while people have to pay Rs 50 for any corrections,” Pani added.
https://youtu.be/JtDFm6KwcWc
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Bhubaneswar: With the first phase Panchayat elections in Odisha scheduled to kick off tomorrow morning, the State Election Commission (SEC) today briefed voting method to the new voters and those who have not fully understood the method of exercising their franchise.
Talking to media persons here, SEC secretary Rabindranath Sahu said unlike the voting which is usually conducted through Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in General and Assembly elections, polling would be conducted through the ballot box in the Panchayat polls.
“People coming to the polling booth to exercise their franchise must have any one of the 23 proofs like the voter card, voter ID, Aadhaar Card and driving license etc which they will have to show to the First Polling Officer for verification. After the verification, they will collect the folded ballot paper from the Second Polling Officer who will put indelible ink on their forefinger,” Sahu said.
He also informed that there are different colours of ballot papers for different posts. “The blue ballot paper is for the Ward Member, yellow ballot paper for Sarpanch and violet ballot paper for Samiti Member. Except poll symbols, there would be no mention of the name of the candidates in the ballot paper. However, for the Zilla Parishad, there will be white ballot paper with the name of the candidates and their party symbols with the Sarpanch, Ward Member, Samiti Member and Zilla Parishad Member mentioned serially. The voters have to give their signature or fingerprint on the ballot paper and put the ballot paper inside the ballot box after putting a stamp on a blank box to the right of the name of the candidate they have preferred to vote,” the SEC secretary pointed out.
According to Parthasarathi Rath, Presiding Officer, no one will be allowed to enter into the polling booth after the polling is completed at 12 PM. But those who are in the queue before 12 PM will be allowed to vote. After the polling is over, the counting of votes would begin at 1 PM in presence of the agents of different political parties. After the counting is completed, a list mentioning the number of votes of the candidates, will be handed over to the Section Officer.
The official announcement of the names of the winning Ward Members and Sarpanches will be made on February 23 and Zilla Parishad members and Panchayat Samiti members on February 25.
The advisory came in a series of tweets from the UIDAI after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman R.S. Sharma last week threw a challenge and tweeted his 12-digit unique Aadhaar number, asking if it had made him vulnerable to any security risk. Some of his personal details were reportedly hacked and leaked thereafter.
"Such activities are uncalled for and should be refrained as these are not in accordance with the law," one of the tweets from UIDAI said.
"We emphasise that people should not display or publish their Aadhaar number in public."
The authority also said that doing Aadhaar authentication through somebody else's Aadhaar number or using someone else's Aadhaar number for any purpose may amount to impersonation and thereby constituting a criminal offence under the Aadhaar Act and the Indian Penal Code.
"Any person indulging in such acts or abetting or inciting others to do so makes themselves liable for prosecution and penal action under the law. Therefore, people should refrain from such acts," said another tweet.
Announcing the order, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however said that this extension will not affect the linking of Aadhaar with the disbursal of benefits under social welfare schemes.
The order came as senior counsel Arvind Datar, appearing for one of the petitioners, told the court that passport issuing authorities have made submission of Aadhaar mandatory for issuance of passports.
At this point, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal sought to clarify that this requirement of Aadhaar was only for issuance of 'tatkal' passports.
The court order also extended this extension to the issuance of passports.
The current deadline for linking of bank accounts, mobile phone connections, and other services with Aadhaar was March 31 and this had been extended by the apex court on December 15 last year.
Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra hearing a bunch of petitions against the Aadhaar law that the Centre had extended the deadline in the past too and it can do so again.
"If required, we can do it again," Venugopal said after petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme sought an extension of the deadline to link the 12-digit unique identity number with various government schemes and services.
The petitioners said the deadline was nearing and the case was unlikely to be decided by March 31.
On December 15 last year, the apex court had directed the extension of deadline till March 31 for the linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts and mobile phones.
The constitution bench is hearing challenges to the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar scheme on the touchstone of the fundamental right to privacy on a bunch of petitions by former Karnataka High Court Judge K.S. Puttuswamy, Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon and others.
"By having a unique number, you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee lists. That alone has saved the government $9 billion," said Nilekani at a World Bank panel discussion on 'Digital Economy for Development' here on Thursday.
Nilekani, 62, co-founder and Chairman of Indian IT major Infosys, steered the world's largest digital identity number project launched in 2009 by the then Congress-led UPA government and supported by the NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It has really been a bipartisan thing. I was given a mandate by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on how to give everyone in India a unique digital ID. We have 1.18 billion in the system we have built with an architecture that could enroll 1.5 million people a day at 35,000 stations across the country," he said.
As the first Chairman of the Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI), Nilekani guided the ambitious Aadhaar project for five years till mid-2014.
"We also have half a billion (500 million) people who have connected their (Aadhaar) ID to their bank accounts. The government has transferred about $12 billion to their accounts electronically real time, which is the world's largest cash transfer system in real-time, Nilekani said.
Admitting that he was a great believer in digital economy for development, he said in the developing countries where there was no legacy systems, it was easier to build systems that could leapfrog.
"The notion of what is digital infrastructure has to move. We think about it as providing communication and internet, which are basic. In the new world of the data economy, identity, authentication, frictionless payments and paperless transactions are important layers of the new digital economy," he reiterated.
Noting that India was the only country where a billion people do paperless, cashless transactions on their mobile phones using the Aadhaar infrastructure, Nilekani said lower transaction cost would lead to more inclusion.
"The infrastructure India has created enables every individual to use one's own data for his/her advancement in personal life, which is fundamental. A small merchant who couldn't get a loan earlier can use his digital footprint to get it now. There's an inversion happening about the way we think about data for personal advancement," he said.
On the Supreme Court's ruling on the right to privacy, Nilekani said the apex court had recognised it as a fundamental right, but laid down a framework to circumscribe some of the privacies for achieving a state objective -- national security, prevention of crime, protection of revenue or for social welfare.
"The Supreme Court, however, said every time you circumscribe some privacies, there has be a certain law, it needs to be reasonable. It's a brilliantly drafted judgement," he said.
The panel discussion was held on the margins of the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the US capital.
The recent directive of the government to link all savings bank accounts with Aadhaar by December 31 was a "very costly affair" as lenders were already facing high costs in maintaining such accounts and complying with the KYC (know your customer) requirement, says SBI Managing Director Rajnish Kumar.
To recover such costs, including the lender's costs on ATMs and business correspondents, the bank expects to realise over Rs 2,000 crore in the current fiscal from account holders as penalty for failing to maintain minimum balance in their savings accounts, he said.
"Maintaining savings bank accounts and complying with KYC requirement is not an easy task. Now the government has said that you have to link Aadhaar to each and every account by December 31. So I have to look at (SBI's) 40 crore (savings bank) accounts and it is a very costly affair," he told IANS.
According to the government's mandate, all existing bank account holders will have to submit Aadhaar card numbers to banks by December 31 this year, failing which the accounts will become invalid.
Kumar said that the process would add to the costs of banks as it involves a process and making changes in the IT-backend as well.
"It (Aadhaar linking) is a costly affair because you have to contact the customer, you have to do the process, you have to make changes in IT. There are costs associated with savings bank accounts," he said.
The largest public lender said it also invests heavily in technology requirement to take care of the transactions made in the savings bank accounts.
"For maintaining savings bank accounts, there are certain costs. We have to invest heavily in technology. Our cost on technology every year is very high and that is more to take care of the transactions in (savings) accounts," he said.
"The penalty realised, we will use it to recover our outgo on ATMs. On business correspondents (BCs) channel, SBI incurs a loss of more than Rs 400 crore. We are incurring a cost of almost Rs 2,000 crore on business correspondents channel and ATMs per year. At least we should be able to recover that (from the penalty)," he said.
From April 1, SBI made it mandatory for savings bank accounts in metropolitan cities to maintain Rs 5,000 as minimum balance, Rs 3,000 in urban areas, Rs 2,000 in semi-urban areas and Rs 1,000 in rural areas, failing which a penalty is levied.
He said that the rest of the penalty realised would go to recover the bank's other costs, including Aadhaar linking.
According to an RTI query, SBI realised Rs 235.06 crore as penalty till June-end from more than 60 million savings bank accounts.
"Out of 27 crore (270 million) savings bank accounts which are required to comply with the minimum balance requirement, there may be about 20 per cent accounts that have not maintained the balance. We have given them enough time and notice. These charges were applicable from April 1. Those who couldn't comply, we recovered penalty in June," he said.
Kumar said that the bank is, however, thinking of exempting senior citizens' and students' accounts from such penalty.
"There is some feedback from senior citizens and students but by and large customers have accepted this. Whether we do make exemption relating to income group, or senior citizens or students, is under deliberation. We are now doing some analysis and we will take a call," he said.
In the normal course, review on such charges happens once in a year and is effective from April 1, but based on customer feedback, the review is expected earlier, the SBI MD said.
"Review is expected earlier than 2018. Nothing is cast in iron. We will also take into account the competitive situation in the market," he said.
SBI has a total of 400 million savings bank accounts, out of which 130 million are Jan Dhan accounts and Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) accounts which are exempt from minimum balance requirement and no charges are recovered from these accounts.
The top court had on March 13 extended indefinitely the March 31 deadline for linking bank accounts and mobile phone numbers with Aadhaar.
However, it had allowed the government and its agencies to link the 12-digit national biometric identifier number of the beneficiaries for transfer of benefits of schemes funded from this fund.
A plea, seeking extension of time beyond March 31 for linking Aadhaar with welfare schemes, was made today before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra after Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), concluded his PowerPoint presentation (PPT), claiming it would take "billions of years" to decrypt the saved data, including the biometrics.
Senior advocate K V Viswanath, appearing for a petitioner opposed to the Aadhaar scheme, took a cue from the PPT in which the UIDAI CEO said that the success rate of Aadhaar authentication in government systems was 88 per cent.
"If the data of UIDAI says that there was only 88 per cent success rate of Aadhaar authentication, then it means that 12 per cent people are excluded from the benefits in schemes linked with Aadhaar. Twelve per cent failure is too high," the lawyer said, adding that almost 140 million citizens cannot take benefits.
An interim order is required to be passed to extend the March 31 deadline for welfare schemes also, Viswanath said during the day-long hearing before the bench, which also comprised Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.
Attorney General K K Venugopal vehemently opposed the submission saying "nobody has been excluded. Not a single case is there where denial of benefits (for want of Aadhaar) has taken place".
The bench then said "We will not pass any interim order at this stage" and added that the petitioner may argue this aspect in their rejoinder submissions.
The UIDAI CEO, in his presentation, referred to the success rate of biometric authentication and said "for government systems, the success rate is 88 per cent, for banks it is 95 per cent and for telecom, it is 97 per cent".
He said the success rate of Aadhaar authentication was lower in government system because of some "vested interests".
Some people wanted that the Aadhaar-linked services to go and hence, the misinformation was being spread and the some section of media was also helping in it.
To buttress the submission, Pandey referred to Aadhaar authentication success rates at banks and in telecom companies and said these were 95 per cent and 97 per cent respectively.
"670 million SIM cards have been sold by telecom companies by using Aadhaar authentication," he said, adding that in business activities, the success rates were higher and "the reasons are obvious".
Allaying the apprehensions regarding failures in authentication of elderly people, the UIDAI CEO said the success rate was 83 per cent and if iris is also matched, then it goes to 90 per cent.
He said that from July, the authentication process will also include "face recognition technology" which would be more accurate and enhance the success rate.
At the outset, the CEO gave the details of enrolment operators who have been blacklisted and said that 10,268 such entities have been suspended for various reasons like corruption, use of unparliamentary language, lack of quality.
"Have you suspended any operator who have parted with information," the bench asked.
The CEO said the enrolment process, which includes capturing of biometrics, is being conducted on the UIDAI's software and the moment the operator presses the 'save' button, the data gets encrypted. It would take "billions of years" to decrypt it, he said.
UIDAI was also phasing out private enrollment agencies and the process was on to ensure that enrollment is carried out only at banks and post offices, he said, adding that the Aadhaar Act makes sharing of any data punishable as well.
The bench asked the UIDAI to satisfy it as to whether any aggregation of data was possible or not.
The UIDAI head said there was not much details with it as Aadhaar required minimum information from citizens like photograph, demographics, finger prints and iris. It does not collect details of "religion, caste, tribe, language, records of entitlements, income or medical history and profession", he said.
The UIDAI is "blind" to the real purpose for which Aadhaar authentication has been done and there is no question of surveillance on citizens, he said.
After the UIDAI CEO concluded his presentation, senior advocates Shyam Divan and K V Viswanath gave a list of 20 questions to the bench which asked Pandey to submit a written response.
The hearing on clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and its enabling 2016 law, would resume on April 3 when the Attorney General would restart advancing his submissions.
In instructions issued to the aspirants for the test, the UPSC said those who have poor-quality photographs on the e admit cards will have to bring "a photo identity proof like Aadhar card, driving licence, passport or voter i-card and two passport-sized photographs one for each session for appearing in the examination with an undertaking".
The admit cards for the examination can be downloaded from the UPSC's website.
The Aadhaar card, issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, is a 12-digit unique identity number and it can act as proof of identity and residence.
The civil services examination is conducted annually by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
Mobile phones, calculators, IT gadgets and any other communication device such as bluetooth etc. won't be allowed inside the premises where the examination is being conducted, the UPSC said.
"Any infringements of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action including ban from future examinations," the Commission said.
Candidates are advised not to bring any valuables/costly items and bags to the examination halls, as safe keeping of the same can not be assured. The Commission will not be responsible for any loss in this regard, the instructions said.
This apart, the government has also decided to link Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries for availing ration under NFSA and work under MG-NREGA.
"All farmers will be paid online for paddy procurement.
Payments will be directly credited to the bank account of farmers from Odisha State Cooperative Bank," food supplies and consumer welfare secretary P K Mohapatra told reporters.
Mohapatra said the decision in this regard was taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A P Padhi on the Aadhaar Card linkage in the state.
"Not only for paddy procurement payments, Aadhaar cards will be linked with the National Food Security Scheme (NFSS) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGS)," he said.
Mohapatra said so far 68 per cent people have already availed Aadhaar Card and others would be provided with the same before November this year.
He said Aadhaar card linking would help in maintaining transparency at the Public Distribution System (PDS) network and Point of Sale (POS) machines would be installed at all retailer points from October.
It further advised that there is absolutely no reason for panic or fear at all.
In a joint press statement issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the UIDAI said, “A few news reports in the media which state that 50 crore mobile numbers, are at the risk of disconnection, are completely untrue & imaginary.”
The statement added, ”The news report tries to create unnecessary panic among mobile users by claiming that “they stare a prospect of disconnection if SIM cards procured on the basis of Aadhaar verification are not backed up by a fresh identification.”
The statement further clarified that the Supreme Court in its judgement in Aadhaar case has nowhere directed that the mobile numbers which have been issued through Aadhaar eKYC has to be disconnected.
“Therefore, there is absolutely no reason for panic or fear at all. People should not believe in such rumours. The Court has not also asked to delete all the eKYC data of telecom customers after six months,” the DoT statement read.
The DoT also informed that the apex court has asked UIDAI not to keep authentication log for more than six months. But, the telecom companies or AUAs/KUAs can keep the authentication logs at their end as per Aadhaar regulations to resolve any consumer grievances.
“Further, in the light of the SC verdict if anybody wishes to get her/his Aadhaar eKYC replaced by the fresh KYC, s/he may request the service provider for delinking of her/his Aadhaar by submitting fresh OVDs as per earlier DOT circulars on mobile KYC. But, in any case her/his mobile no. will not be disconnected,” it said.
The Joint Statement also mentioned that the SC has only prohibited the issue of new SIM cards via Aadhaar eKYC process due to lack of a law, however, there is no direction to deactivate the old mobile phones.
“The DoT and UIDAI are in a process to bring out a completely hassle-free and digital process for issuing new SIM cards through a mobile App which will be fully compliant of the SC judgement in Aadhaar Case.”
“In the proposed process, live photograph of the person with latitude, longitude, and time stamp will be captured. The photo of his/her ID such as Aadhaar card, voter ID, etc. will also be captured. The SIM card agent will be authenticated through OTP and SIM card will be issued. This process will be completely hassle-free and digital,” informed the joint statement.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Aadhaar card is not needed for school admissions and mobile phone connections, neither it is mandatory for opening of bank account. The Aadhaar number will not be mandatory for UGC, NEET and CBSE Exams. Also, Aadhaar will not be mandatory for obtaining a new SIM card.
However, it said that Aadhaar is mandatory for PAN linking. The court also asserted that Aadhar card will not be provided to illegal migrants.
Justice Chandrachud said, "Aadhaar violates the right to privacy as it could possibly lead to profiling of persons and voters."
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Justice Sikri pronounced the judgement for himself, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
The apex court made this observations while pronouncing of the verdict by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
Justice A K Sikri was pronouncing the judgement on Aadhaar for himself, the CJI and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
The bench said attack on Aadhaar by petitioners is based on violation of rights under the Constitution, will lead to a surveillance State.
It said there has been minimal demographic and biometric data collected by UIDAI for Aadhaar enrolment.
The biometric data shall not be shared with any agency without the permission of the court, added SC.
The Supreme Court said education has taken us from thumb impression to signature, but now technology has taken us from signature to thumb impression.
The SC today declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best.
The statement has come in the present Covid-19 pandemic situations against certain reports suggesting that vaccination and a few other essential services like hospitalisation were being denied to the residents for want of Aadhaar.
UIDAI said that in the Covid pandemic circumstances, no one shall be denied a service/benefit just because he/she doesn't have an Aadhaar.
If one does not have Aadhaar or if Aadhaar online verification is not successful due to some reason, the concerned agency or department has to provide the service as per Section 7 of Aadhaar Act, 2016 and the Cabinet Secretariat OM dated 19th Dec 2017, UIDAI said in a statement.
UIDAI said that Aadhaar should not be misused as an excuse for denial of any essential service. There is a well established exception handling mechanism (EHM) for Aadhaar and it should be followed to ensure delivery of benefits and services in the absence of Aadhaar.
If a resident does not possess Aadhaar for some or the other reason, she/he must not be denied essential services as per Aadhaar Act.
UIDAI said that Aadhaar is meant to bring transparency and accountability in public service deliveries through effective use of technology and there are exception handling regulations issued by UIDAI vide its circular dated October 24, 2017 to ensure that no beneficiary is denied of benefits/services for the want of Aadhaar.
Also, relevant provisions are there in the Aadhaar Act under Section 7 to ensure that there is no exclusion and no denials.
Further, the Cabinet Secretariat OM dated December 19, 2017 has clearly explained the exception handling mechanism by using alternate means of identification for extending benefits and services to the residents who do not posses Aadhaar or in cases where Aadhaar authentication is not successful due to any reason.
UIDAI advised that in case of any such denial of service/benefit, matter should be brought to the knowledge of the higher authorities of concerned departments.
The peculiar scenes were seen at a Community Health Centre at Koshala in Angul district. Locals alleged that the health centre does not have enough testing kits. They are forced to wait for long hours and sometimes return returned disheartened without undergoing the test.
As per reports, the situation arose after people who wanted to get tested for Coronvirus came in large numbers and the hospital was reportedly caught short of testing kits.
A local from Tangiri village said, “My wife is pregnant. So I brought her here for COVID test on Friday. After that I came here for three consecutive days to get my reports, but the hospital authorities said that neither my phone number nor my registration number is with them. So I came again today for testing and has been standing here since 3 am in the morning, but to my dismay, they told me that they ran out of testing kits and we have to come again tomorrow.”
Though, the resentment at the health centre was palpable, no comments could be obtained from the hospital authorities in this connection.
It is worthwhile to mention here that, a rising number of COVID infections in the State have triggered concerns for many. As the health experts pointed out, the virus has penetrated the rural areas as well and more numbers of people are getting infected with the virus in the villages, explaining the long queue at health centres.
"The technology used is 2048-bit encryption, which is the strongest one and it is impossible to decrypt and extract any information even if enrolment packets were accessible during transit to the UIDAI data centre," UIDAI told a bench of Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Prateek Jalan.
The bench was hearing a plea seeking exemplary damages for the losses caused due to leakage of Aadhaar data.
The plea was filed by Shamnad Basheer alleging that the dissemination of personal information of Aadhaar holders made it clear that the government is responsible for any breach of right to informational privacy.
In an affidavit, the government agecy said that Aadhaar data is fully secured at all times and for further strengthening of security and privacy of data, security audits are conducted on regular basis, and all possible steps are taken to make the data safer and protected.
It further added that there are multiple layers of security at physical level in UIDAI data centres and is being managed by armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel round-the-clock.
"The technical architecture of Aadhaar has been structured in such a way, so as to ensure clear data verification, authentication and de-duplication, while ensuring a high level of privacy and information security," the UIDAI said.
"UIDAI has taken all necessary safeguards, starting from providing standardised software that encrypts the entire data even before saving it to any disk; protecting data using tamper-proofing; identifying every operator in all and every enrolment; and identifying every one of the thousands of machines using an unique registration process, which ensures every encrypted data is tracked," read the reply copy filed by the UIDAI.
Countering Basheer's claim, the agency also said that the petitioner is trying to re-agitate the same issues which have attained finality before the Supreme Court and therefore the present petition deserves to be dismissed with costs.
It said that the petition is based on a mere assumption that the general public is likely to be aggrieved.
"In the entire petition, there is not even a mention as to how the petitioner is aggrieved by the actions of the UIDAI and how his constitutional rights have been violated to entitle him to damages claimed by him," the UIDAI said.
Adding that there is no merit in the application, UIDAI, in its reply, said: "The alleged facts (leakage of Aadhaar data) on the basis of which the petitioner has filed the plea are unsubstantiated statements and the information relating to the Aadhaar scheme has been grossly misreported and interpolated to mislead this court.
"The petitioner has pivoted his entire case around the misleading and unverified reports in the media regarding security breach of data related to Aadhaar, which is entirely denied as incorrect and misinformed."
The agency requested the court to dismiss the plea with cost as the petitioner has no locus standi to file this application.
The petitioner has said his constitutional rights have been violated due to the negligence of UIDAI.
Citing the top court's judgement, the petitioner said that when the state violates the constitutional rights of a citizen, courts may award compensation.
Basheer has also requested the court to appoint an independent committee comprising multiple experts to investigate the scope, extent of breaches and the magnitude of harm caused due to data leak.
Though the I-T department has not clearly stated what will be consequences someone would face if he/she fails to link Aadhaar and PAN card after the deadline, it is very likely that the person will face difficulties in filing of income tax returns. Moreover, PAN card of the concerned individual is likely to be cancelled.
It is mandatory as per a new section put under the Section 139A of the Income Tax Act that every resident of India who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number, on or after the July 1, 2017 must quote the Aadhaar number in the application form for allotment of PAN and filing of the income tax return. In case someone does not possess Aadhaar Number, the Enrollment ID of Aadhaar application form issued to the concerned person must be mentioned in the application for PAN.
On the other hand, if you are a non-resident Indian (NRI), then you are not eligible to get Aadhaar card. But the PAN card is a must if the concerned person is having taxable income in India.
How to link Aadhaar and PAN cards:
Someone can link PAN and Aadhaar numbers on the websites of Income Tax department, NSDL and UTIITSL.
The linkage can be done through SMS, provided there is no mismatch in data. One can send an SMS to 567678 or 56161 in the following format: UIDPAN<12 digit Aadhaar><10 digit PAN>
However, if there is any mismatch in the name mentioned on the Aadhaar card and PAN card, then the linkage will fail. In these cases, the individual can change their name in either of the two databases or personally visit a PAN application center or UTIITSL for biometric Aadhaar authentication.
Meanwhile, in case of a minor mismatch of data in PAN and Aadhaar, the I-T department will undertake a verification using a one-time password (OTP) sent to the registered mobile number and link the two documents.
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Bill to amend the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 and to further amend the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Participating in the debate, Prasad said the Bill was people-friendly and citizen-centric and that it would enable the UIDAI to have a more robust mechanism to serve public interest and act as a deterrent against the misuse of Aadhaar.
With the amendment to the Bill, Prasad claimed that no individual shall be compelled to provide proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo authentication for the purpose of establishing his identity, unless it was so provided by a law made by the Parliament.
The Bill will help the public in opening bank accounts and to use Aadhaar number for authentication on voluntary basis as acceptable KYC document, he said.
"The amendment will allow voluntary use of Aadhaar number in physical or electronic form by authentication or offline verification with the consent of the Aadhaar number holder. It will also allow the use of the 12-digit Aadhaar number and its alternative virtual identity to conceal the actual Aadhaar number of an individual. The Bill also provides the option to the children, who are Aadhaar number holders, to cancel it on attaining adult age," the Minister said.
The Bill replaced an ordinance promulgated on March 2. The Cabinet on June 13 approved the Bill which establishes that no individual can be compelled to provide proof of Aadhaar number unless provided by the law, and that Aadhaar number on voluntary basis shall be accepted as KYC document.
Opposing the Bill, leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government used the ordinance route to bring in the legislation and criticised the government for providing legal backing for voluntary seeding of biometric Aadhaar ID with mobile numbers and bank accounts.
He said the ordinance was issued by the NDA government in its first term (2014-19) and the current government has brought it as a legislation. The government is "resorting to the ordinance route without any rhyme and reason," Chowdhury said.
He said it was the UPA government which brought in the law, to which Prasad said the NDA government gave legal status to Aadhaar.
"You have loaned the concept of Aadhaar from us," he said. Chowdhury said the Supreme Court had also rapped the government for violating privacy in Aadhaar.
Participating in the debate, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Pinaki Misra said the government will keep tinkering with the law till it crystalises. Describing it as a "good" law, the BJD MP said that concerns over breach of privacy were not unfounded.
He also called for bringing in a data protection law simultaneously, alleging that a neighbouring country was constantly looking for data to benefit its interests. The MP said there was a need to protect data from "egregious agencies".
"Your folder is sanskaari, symbolising 'departure from slavery of western thought', but your aspirations are 3 trillion 'US DOLLARS' economy, huh hypocrite!" tweeted a user.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government aims to increase the present $2.7 trillion economy to $5 trillion by 2025.
"Instead of making US dollar a bench mark of aspirational currency, why not work on making Indian Rupee stronger?" another user posted.
Another social media user shared the lines from an old song: "Achcha sila diya tune mere pyar ka".
The middle class literally wailed when the petrol prices shot up by Rs 2.50 per litre, diesel prices hiked up by Rs 2.30 per litre just hours after the union budget was presented.
"This has been one of the poorest budgets for common honest tax payer and middle class. You are bound to lose many supporters," a user wrote in reply to former finance minister Arun Jaitley's tweet on the budget.
"Petrol prices, diesel prices higher. What are the benefits for honest tax payers? What is the tax benefit, pension benefit, gratuity amount holding by corporate companies?? You really care for honest people (Salaried)?" another person tweeted.
The budget also announced that for I-T returns, PAN and Aadhaar cards would be made interchangeable to help tax payers file their returns.
"So 'PAN and Aadhaar will become interchangeable' is somehow a tax benefit to middle-class Indians? So, you first introduce a problem, and then increase the problem, make it more complicated, and then reduce it again (but still keep it confusing) - that somehow becomes a benefit?" a user questioned the decision.
"PAN and Aadhaar interchangeable will not help middle class," another user tweeted.
People also criticised that the issue of unemployment was not addressed seriously.
"Hopeless budget 2019... no help or news for unemployment," a tweet said.
The millennials, however, had some fun with the budget.
"So, the budget has been declared, still there is no announcement on subsidy for annual subscription of Netflix, Prime and Hotstar. Is this the India we want to live in?" posted a Twitter user.
The funny memes also kept circulating.
Depicting the "before budget" and "after budget" feelings, a meme showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi first sitting on a rock, and then lying down flat on the rock.
The images and videos of former Congress President Rahul Gandhi looking blank and later dozing off went viral.
The deadline was extended from July 31 as over 34 lakh PDS beneficiaries in the state are yet to undertake the mandatory linking, he said.
"The food security beneficiaries are urged to link their Aadhaar numbers with the ration cards by August 31," said Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister R P Swain.
He said people without Aadhaar cards have to apply for it and submit their application numbers to avail ration.
"People can deposit copies of their Aadhaar and ration cards at the nearest PDS outlet and avail free linking," he said.
The department has also asked the district collectors to facilitate Aadhaar linking with ration cards.
The state government said the linking will root out bogus PDS beneficiaries.
"There are fake ration cards in circulation. Once the cards are linked with the Aadhaar numbers, we can stop duplicity," Swain said.
During verification, the department has found ineligible and dead beneficiaries in the PDS list. Some beneficiaries were found availing rations with multiple cards, the official said.
While 3.23 crore people in Odisha are covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA), 24.98 lakh people are enrolled under State Food Security Scheme (SFSS).
Till August 3, while 2,85,22,459 Aadhaar numbers were seeded in the database, still 34,52,984 numbers were pending to be seeded against the beneficiaries.
However, since then no noticeable progress has been made and still 31 lakh beneficiaries have not linked their ration and Aadhaar cards raising doubts that they could be ineligible or bogus beneficiaries.
Speaking on the issue, State Food Supply Minister Ranendra Swain, said, “After Aadhaar linking, duplication is not possible. Those who will not link Aadhaar with ration, naturally they will be out of the ambit of National Food Security Act.”
On the other hand, the mandatory linking of Aadhaar and ration card is turning out to be a big problem for many beneficiaries.
After staying bed-ridden for nine years following an accident, Rekha Ram of Sankhapata area in Baripada is now worried whether she will get rice under PDS scheme as she has not linked her Aadhaar and ration card.
“I am unable to walk and my mother will not be able to take me to the place where Aadhaar-ration linking is done. So, I am worried that I will not get rice under the PDS scheme,” said Rekha Ram.
For beneficiaries like Rekha, the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Department has rolled out plans, but ghost beneficiaries have increased their worries.
As per reports, there are as many as 6,05,805 ghost beneficiaries that have been identified. While such beneficiaries are getting rice, many complain that despite standing in queues, they have not received ration.
Abakash Rout, a resident of Banki, has alleged that he didn’t receive rice under the PDS scheme.
“Despite urging the BDO and sub collector, I have not received rice yet,” said Rout who met the Food Supply Minister seeking help.
District Food Supply Officer of Mayurbhanj, Kishore Kumar Patra, said, “Our officials are visiting different houses to raise awareness among people and asking them to link their Aadhaar and ration cards.”
Following the notification, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has also come out with a circular stating that "NRI after his arrival in India, shall be entitled to obtain Aadhaar number".
The modalities for application remain more or less unchanged, a UIDAI source said adding that NRIs with Indian passport can now apply for biometric ID on arrival or by scheduling a prior appointment, thus doing away with the requirement for a mandatory 182-day waiting period.
UIDAI circular said valid Indian passport will be accepted as proof of identity, proof of address (PoA) and date of birth document.
"In case NRI's passport does not have Indian address, he shall be allowed to submit any of the other UIDAI-approved PoA documents as proof of address," said the circular issued on Monday.
It may be recalled that in her Budget speech on July 5, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, "I propose to consider issuing Aadhaar card for non-resident Indians with Indian passports after their arrival in India," without the stipulated waiting period.
The changes were made by amending the Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules, as per a gazette notification issued on Wednesday.
It allows a person with Aadhaar number for identification wants to provide address different from what is available in the Central Identities Data Repository, he may give a self-declaration to that effect to the reporting entity, it said.
There was long standing demand to ease address change rule.
The decision will help migrant workers who have address of their native place in Aadhaar but wants a bank account with their current address where they are living for work.
People may have residential address in their Aadhaar and give work address as current address.
There are many cases where people may have their address in Aadhaar and want to give a more functional address for know your customer (KYC).
If the government goes ahead and implements the widely speculated move of linking Aadhaar with property, it will constitute another big surgical strike against black money and money laundering. The first big 'surgical strike' was in the form of demonetisation announced in November 2016.
Ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, it has tightened the screws on black money and the first hit of the campaign was taken by the real estate sector. With black money flows into the notorious sector waning, property prices fell and the value destruction in property has been a key cause of the economic slowdown.
The fall in property prices has controlled the generation of black money and also made property more affordable for the masses, especially as the government is moving towards Housing for All target by 2022.
There have been reports of the government being in final stages of coming out with a law to link Aadhaar with the property.
The move, if it happens, will weed out 'benami' (proxy) transactions, increase transparency and make a property more affordable as there could be an initial rush to liquidate assets for fear of coming under the tax lens.
Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra, in a recent statement, said: "Linking Aadhaar with property ownership has the potential to weed out black money and eradicate fraudulence from the real estate sector. This move also has the potential to enable rationalization of home prices, as all those who have invested in benami property will rush to disinvest."
It can, however, help in the ease of transactions and providing finance. "The Aadhaar-property linkage will also provide some ease to procedures related to home buying such as home loan, property transaction, sale or purchase of property, etc, due to enhanced transparency. Since the entire linking process will be time-consuming, the government should give enough time to property owners," Bandelkar added.
Manju Yagnik, Vice Chairperson Nahar Group and Vice President NAREDCO (Maharashtra) said: "The proposal to link Aadhaar Number to property ownership is a welcome move in favour of the residential segment as it will lend more credibility and transparency to the segment. Homebuyers will further benefit from it because it also brings a sense of security in their transactions, which will favour reputed players with a proven track record.
"On the other hand, it will also encourage serious investors to look at sizeable and long-term investments in the residential sector, which will add to further momentum in the market."
The scheme, which envisages an assured rate of return of 8 per cent annually, is being implemented through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). The scheme was announced in Union Budgets of 2017-18 and 2018-19.
"An individual eligible for receiving the benefit under the scheme shall hereby be required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number (the unique 12-digit biometric identity number) or undergo Aadhaar authentication," according to a finance ministry notification.
The notification, dated December 23, has been issued under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
It further said any individual desirous of availing benefit under the scheme who does not possess the Aadhaar number or has not yet been enrolled for Aadhaar, "shall be required to apply for Aadhaar enrolment before registering for the scheme".
In cases where Aadhaar authentication fails due to poor biometrics, the ministry's Department of Financial Services through its implementing agency will make provisions to help the beneficiaries get the Aadhaar number.
Further, where biometric or Aadhaar one-time password or time-based OTP authentication is not possible, benefit under the scheme may be given on the basis of physical Aadhaar letter whose authenticity may be verified through the quick response (QR) code printed on the Aadhaar letter, the notification said.
In the Budget 2018-19, the maximum limit under PMVVY was doubled to Rs 15 lakh per senior citizen. The scheme is available for subscription till March 2020.
(PTI)
In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said an eligible beneficiary desirous of receiving the benefit under the 'Central Scheme for Assistance to Civilian Victims/Family of Victims of Terrorist/Communal/LWE Violence and Cross Border Firing and Mine/IED blasts on Indian Territory' is required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication.
Any eligible beneficiary desirous of receiving a benefit under the scheme, who does not possess the Aadhaar number or, has not yet enrolled for Aadhaar, shall have to apply for Aadhaar enrolment.
The home ministry said the notification comes into effect in all states and union territories except Assam and Meghalaya, where Aadhaar has not covered all residents.
"The assistance is given by the state governments and the home ministry reimburses the state governments when it gets their demand. The annual budget for the scheme is broadly in the range of Rs 6 to 7 crore," a senior home ministry official said.
The notification said the ministry through the implementing agency is required to offer Aadhaar enrolment facilities for the eligible beneficiary, who is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar and in case there is no Aadhaar enrolment centre located in the respective Block or Taluka or Tehsil.
Till the time Aadhaar is assigned to the beneficiary, benefit under the scheme shall be given to such beneficiary subject to the production of the Aadhaar enrolment identification slip if he or she has enrolled and any one of the following: bank or post office passbook with photo; or voter identification card; or PAN card; or ration card; or passport; or Kisan photo passbook; or driving licence or certificate of identity having photo of such person issued by a gazetted officer or a tehsildar on an official letterhead; or Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme Job Card; or any other document as specified by the ministry.
In order to provide convenient and hassle-free benefit to the beneficiary under the scheme, the ministry through the implementing agency or other means shall make all the required arrangements to ensure that wide publicity through media is given to the beneficiary to make them aware of the requirement of Aadhaar under the scheme.
In all cases, where Aadhaar authentication fails due to poor biometrics of the beneficiary or due to any other reason, the following remedial mechanisms shall be adopted.
In case of poor fingerprint quality, IRIS scan or face authentication facility shall be adopted for authentication, thereby the ministry through the implementing agency shall make provisions for IRIS scanners or face authentication along with fingerprint authentication for delivery of benefits in a seamless manner.
In case of biometric authentication through fingerprints or IRIS or face authentication is not successful, wherever feasible and admissible authentication by Aadhaar One Time Password (OTP) or Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) with limited time validity, as the case may be, shall be offered.
In all other cases where biometric or OTP or TOTP authentication is not possible, benefit may be given on the basis of physical Aadhaar letter whose authenticity can be verified through the QR code printed on the Aadhaar letter and the necessary arrangement of QR code reader shall be provided at the convenient locations by the ministry through the implementing agency.
(PTI)
In view of the situation arising out of COVID-19 outbreak, the State government had directed all district Collectors to ensure bank account holders do not face any problems in carrying out transactions.
All citizens whose bank accounts are Aadhaar seeded can transact money in the nearby post office.
"In the last one week, we have made around 5000 such payments with the help of Indian Postal Payment banks. And Rs 3.45 crore cash has been delivered to people at their doorsteps," informed Verma.
Also Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Odisha Urges RBI To Ensure Cash Availability In Banks, ATMs
As per the orders, apart from withdrawing money, one can avail facilities like deposits, balance inquiry and many more. The pandemic situation has also prompted the post offices to deliver money orders to the weaker section of the society, enable transaction through Aadhaar-enabled Payment System (AePS), apart from facilitating the delivery of medicines, masks and other essential medical equipment.
Other provisions include supply of food commodities to non-resident Odias, and hearing of public grievances at the earliest.
In another recent development, the Central government has decided to give Rs 500 per month for the next three months the women with Jan Dhan account through direct transfer. The move is claimed to benefit about 20 crore account holders.
On Thursday, as many as 39.51 lakh women Jan Dhan account holders in Odisha received monthly financial assistance of Rs 500 in the first phase under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). The beneficiaries can withdraw the cash from the ATM counters and micro ATM kiosks at petrol pumps by following necessary Covid-19 regulations.
Women Jan Dhan Yojana account holders who want to urgently withdraw money deposited by the govt in their bank accounts under PMGK package for #COVID2019 can do so as per the following schedule, based on the last digit of their bank A/C number#coronavirus #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/uTm748wLth
— OTV (@otvnews) April 3, 2020
Providing details about the Co-WIN portal, he said it has been developed by the Ministry of Health, government of India with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India Office.
On whether Aadhaar is mandatory for registering on the Co-WIN application, Choubey, in a written reply, said, "No, Aadhaar is not mandatory for registration on Co-WIN portal."
He further said that Rs 58.90 lakh has been incurred on Co-WIN, as on February 1 this year.
On whether any privacy impact assessments were carried out to develop the application, Choubey said, "Yes, privacy impact assessments were carried out for Co-WIN portal. For data safety, data is encrypted using a highly secure key, no unauthorised access to database on AWS server is allowed and restricted access to relational database service (to decrease the risk of malicious activities)."
The Co-WIN application follows the privacy policy as stated in the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), he added.
The arrested persons include Gaurav, 26, a graduate who runs a photocopy shop in Kaant area.
Gaurav, who learnt fingerprint cloning using glue-gun and adhesive online, has allegedly hacked nearly 500 bank accounts of the beneficiaries of various government schemes such as PM Kisan Samman Yojana, old age pension, etc, in connivance with bank mitras.
"It takes just Rs 5 to clone a fingerprint," Gaurav told the police.
IG Bareilly range, Rajesh Pandey, said, "We are trying to gather more information about such gangs active in the state by sharing the information with headquarters."
The Shahjahanpur police unearthed the racket being run from Jalalabad area of the district after getting repeated complaints from several beneficiaries who had not received money from the government into their bank accounts.
SP, S. Anand, had handed over the case to the crime branch, which found that though the money was credited into the beneficiaries' accounts, it was later withdrawn through Jan Suvidha Kendras being run by bank mitras.
Further investigations revealed the names of Shivram, Sunil Tripathi, Dev Vratt, Sandeep Singh, Shehrun, Rajveer and Hukum Singh, all of whom are bank mitras.
After gathering information, four accused - Shivram, Sunil Tripathi, Dev Vratt and Sandeep Singh - were arrested with cloned fingerprints and several counterfeit stamps, while Gaurav was arrested later.
During interrogation, it was found that Gaurav used to clone fingerprints for the bank mitras using glue-gun and adhesive that would cost him less than Rs 5 per cloning.
Gaurav is suspected to be involved with other gangs in the district as well.
"They used cloned fingerprints to spoof biometrics to carry out financial transactions by hacking bank accounts. Most of the victims are illiterate. The technique used for cloning fingerprints is available online and it is often misused. We will see if such contents can be removed," the IG said.
Rohit Kumar, sub-inspector, crime branch, said, "The accused have been booked under sections 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 ( using as genuine a forged 1(document or electronic record) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code at Jalalabad police station."
A cash reward of Rs 25,000 has been announced for the team that cracked the case.