Unique Identication Authority of India

The Unique Identication Authority of India

(UIDAI) is an attached oce of the Planning Commission of India, established to issue a Unique Identication
Number (Aadhaar) to residents of India who desire
to have it. Aadhaar is planning on being made compulsory through indirect means and incentives. For
example, there are plans to make it compulsory for
passports. However, the Supreme Court of India has
ruled that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory in its
present form;[1] in any case it lacks legal or statutory
authority,[2] and until the month of October 2014 both
UIDAI and Aadhaar project were operating without any
Parliamentary approval. Some civil liberties experts
have suggested that Aadhaar project must be put on hold
until concerns about its constitutional shortcomings and
illegalities have been resolved.[3]

till September 2013 with enrollment of 50 crore (500

million) persons. It includes operating costs as well
as capital expenditure (infrastructure of land, building, machinery).[9][10][11][12] Targeting 60 crore Aadhaar enrollments by 2014, agency has issued more than
40.29 crore Aadhaar numbers till August 2013.[13] Newly
elected Govt under prime minister Narendra Modi in
union budget has allocated Rs. 2039.64 crore for the scal year 2014-15 for the functioning of UIDAI and to enroll remaining population,[14] and has set a target of 100
crore enrollment at the earliest.[15]

3 Recent developments
It was speculated that the change in union government
may stall the Aadhaar project, considering the opposition
raised by several BJP leaders during election campaign,
raising issues like immigrants availing Aadhaar.[16] On
assuming charge new NDA government has scrapped the
Cabinet Committee on Unique Identication Authority
of India, stating that major decisions regarding this have
already been taken.[16][17] The department of Information
Technology has convened a meeting of the state government secretaries to decide the future course of action.[18]
On rst of July a meeting of former UIDAI chairman
Nandan Nilekani with prime minister Modi and nance
minister Arun Jaitley was reported to have revived the
project as he convinced them with the prospects the ongoing project. Few days after that, prime minister set a
new target of 100 crore enrollment at the earliest and
has increased the fund allocation for UIDAI from Rs
1,550 crore to Rs 2,039 crore.[16][19] In a recent development, Cabinet Committee on Economic Aairs, chaired
by prime minister has reviewed the project and has
approved the Phase-V of Unique Identication project
and has sanctioned Rs 1200 to accelerate enrollments
in four new states Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh
and Uttarakhand, which were previously covered by the
scheme of NPR.[16] On receiving a go-ahead from the
new government, UIDAI is planning to launch a media
campaign to trigger up the enrolment process and to weed
out misconceptions about the project. Aadhaar, an identication number for residents is widely perceived as an
identity card legitimizing citizenship of the country. The
security of the data collected by the UIDAI is also among
some major concerns. UIDAI has proposed to hire an
advertising agency and is about to spend Rs 30 crore a
year for media campaign.[16] Till date more than 79 crore
Aadhaar numbers have been generated.

Description

The Unique Identication Authority of India

(UIDAI) is the agency of the Government of India
that is responsible for implementing Aadhaar. The
UIDAI was formed under the Planning Commission
by an executive order issued in January 2009. The
agency was established in February 2009, and owns and
operates the Unique Identication Number database.
The agency provides a unique identication number to
all persons residing in India without identity cards.[4] The
agency will maintain a database of residents containing
biometric and other data,[5] and is headed by a chairman,
who holds a cabinet rank. The UIDAI is part of the
Planning Commission of India. Nandan Nilekani was
appointed as the rst Chairman of the authority in June
2009[6] and resigned from the post in March 2014 to
contest the Lok Sabha election. The then government
extended the term of Vijay Madan,a 1981-batch IAS
ocer to continue as the director-general and mission
director of UIDAI.[7] The Central Government has been
unable to secure statutory approval for the authority after
the National Identication Authority of India Bill 2010
was rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee
as unethical and violative of Parliament prerogatives.[8]

Budget allocation

About Rs. 35 billion (Rs. 3,500 crore) was spent on

Aadhaar program from the beginning (January-2009)
1

5 STATES CURRENTLY COVERED UNDER THE PROJECT

Aadhaar enrolment crossed the 79.31 crore mark (793.1 crore was leased to UIDAI at triing price. Currently
million) on March 16, 2015.[20]
UIDAI operates out of oces in New Delhis Connaught
Circus.[21] Since UIDAI is not an authority, its nodal
agency, the Planning Commission, is responsible for pro3.1 Public distribution plans
viding UIDAIs infrastructure. The land is owned by 2
nancially ailing telecoms, BSNL and MTNL, which are
Despite supreme courts interim directive, Aadhaar was locked in a court dispute.[22]
used to weed out fake ration cards, in Hyderabad district of Telengana state. It was reported that more than
63,000 white ration cards and 2,29,757 names from its 5 States currently covered under
database have been deactivated by the chief rationing ofthe project
cer, following an order by Civil Supplies Department
[16]
of State government. State of Andhra Pradesh has 15
lakh (1 500 000) bogus white ration cards which have Enrolment activities are being carried out exclusively
been surrendered in a drive to seed them with Aadhaar by RGI for preparation of National Population Register
numbers.[16] In the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, en- (NPR) in the following States/Union territories. Resivisaged for nancial inclusion of the entire population, dents of any other State/UT/district may note that they
main features of allotting an overdraft of Rs 5,000 and need not enroll under UIDAI if they have already enrolled
accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh is proposed to be under NPR.[23]
limited to Aadhaar linked bank accounts. This will help
avoiding duplication and restrict household availing the
5.1 States
facility through multiple bank accounts.
In a move to ensure punctuality and to check absenteeism among government employees, the government
has decided to install Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance systems (AEBAS) in all central government oces
and has launched a website attendance.gov.in. Government has ordered to implement the initial phase at national capital by October 2014 and will be extended to
all central government oces by March 2015. The device will have a ngerprint scanner along with a Wi-Fi
internet connection. Eight AEBAS systems provided by
UIDAI have been installed at six gates of Urban Development Ministry.[16] The database of all central government employees will be maintained centrally based on a
six digit ID, based on the last six or rst six digits of Aadhaar number.[16]
The Digital India programme envisaged to provide digital
identity, real-time online transaction platform and digitalization of government documents and records of all the
citizens to make them available on real-time basis to avail
government services will be based on Aadhaar, the only
digitally veriable identity in the country as of now.[16]
The blue print of the Digital India programme was approved by Union Cabinet envisages digital identity and
government services delivered electronically by 2018.[16]
The government plans to link SIM cards with Aadhaar
numbers and use mobile phones for accessing services.[16]

Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Uttar Pradesh
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim

UIDAI Headquarter allotment

Tamil Nadu
Telangana

The statutory board of enquiry for Delhi Development

Authority has dumped the change of land use for UIDAIs
proposed headquarters on a petition by the convenor of
India Against Corruption. Complainant had claimed that
the prime property in central New Delhi worth Rs. 900

Tripura
West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh

3
In Sept 2014, govt gave approval of the Phase-V of
the UID to cover the additional following states by year
2015:[24]
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Uttarakhand

5.2

Union territories

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Lakshadweep

Impediments

6.1

Supreme Court judgments

The Supreme Court of India passed an interim order on

23 September 2013 that no public services such as LPG
can be denied to public due to lack of Aadhaar.[25]

[2] Central government seeks statutory cover for UIDAI.

The New Indian Express. 25 September 2013. Retrieved
19 November 2013.
[3] Supreme Court Of India Must Immediately Declare
Aadhaar Project As Unconstitutional. Civil Liberties Protection In Cyberspace. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 16 August
2014.
[4] Nilekani to give numbers, ministries to issue cards, The
Economic Times, 16 July 2009, retrieved 18 July 2009
[5] Nilekani takes charge, says rst set of IDs in 12-18
months. The Times of India. 24 July 2009.
[6] PIB Press Release. Pib.nic.in. Retrieved 1 October
2010.
[7] Two dozen ocers indispensable for government due to
functional requirements: DoPT. The Economic Times.
17 July 2014.
[8] Central government seeks statutory cover for UIDAI.
The New Indian Express. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July
2014.
[9] Punch in recipients Aadhaar number to transfer funds.
The Economic Times. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
[10] One out of two Indians to have Aadhaar by mid-2014:

Nandan Nilekani. The Economic Times. Retrieved 31

The court, later on 24 March 2014, restrained the central
October 2013.
government and the Unique Identication Authority of
India from sharing data with any third party or agency,
[11] Expenditure of UIDAI for the year 2009-2010, 2010whether government or private, without the permission
2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 (Up to
[26]
of the card-holder.
September 2013)" (PDF). Unique Identication Authority of India. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

6.2

Security concerns

[12] Unique Identication project expenditure at Rs 3,062

crore as of July end. The Economic Times. Retrieved
31 October 2013.

The AADHAAR number is not recognized as a legal

proof of residence due to issues with the data protec[13] UIDAI issues more than 40 crore Aadhaar numbers till
tion. Indias Intelligence Bureau claims anyone with an
date. India TV. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August
Aadhaar number can introduce others without any doc2013.
umentation to get the identity number, which makes it
[14] Union Budget allocates Rs 2,039 crore for Aadhaar. Invulnerable to terrorism and other issues.[2][27][28]
dia TV. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.

See also
National Population Register
National identication number

References

[1] Aadhaar In Its Present Form Has No Welfare Elements

Attached To It Whatsoever But Is An E-Surveillance
Project. Privacy Laws In India And Privacy Rules And
Regulations In India. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.

[15] Nilekani succeeds in persuading Narendra Modi to continue with Aadhaar project. India TV. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
[16] Centre plans to scrap Aadhaar, 15 June 2014
[17] Modi Govt Drops Cabinet Panels on Aadhaar, Prices, 1
July 2014
[18] Aadhaar future at stake, govt seeks meeting with states, 17
June 2014
[19] Nandan Nilekani impresses Narendra Modi & Arun Jaitley, gets Aadhaar a lifeline, 24 July 2014
[20] https://portal.uidai.gov.in/uidwebportal/dashboard.do?
lc=h

[21] UIDAI land allotment scam: DDA accepts IAC prayer

to scrap the deal. Moneylife. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
[22] Aadhaar base on BSNL land. MailToday. 22 September 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
[23] http://uidai.gov.in/where-to-enroll.html
[24] http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/
uid-phase-v-aadhaar-enrolments-in-four-states-get-cabinet-approval/
[25] How Nandan Nilekani Took Aadhaar Past The Tipping
Point. Forbes India. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
[26] Dont exclude those without Aadhaar, share data: SC.
The Indian Express. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 25 March
2014.
[27] Dogs, trees and chairs have Aadhaar cards. The Times
Of India. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
[28] IB slams Uidai, says Aadhaar not credible as residence
proof. Hindustan Times. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

External links
Ocial website

EXTERNAL LINKS

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