Aadhaar usage expanded beyond welfare schemes

New Delhi: The government has notified new rules under the Aadhaar Act, expanding the use of the 12-digit unique identity number beyond restricted state-funded welfare programmes.This means it can now be “voluntarily” linked to the upcoming health identity card-for-all project as well as existing government services such as obtaining a driving licence.Explaining the reason behind the move, a senior government official said there was a “real need” to expand Aadhaar’s “scope”, which was limited till now. “Earlier, Aadhaar was restricted to subsidy schemes to prevent leakage of government funds, but there is a need to allow departments to use it for other purposes, like the digital health platform being prepared,” the official said.In September 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar could only be used to authenticate beneficiaries of government subsidy schemes. The court also said that Aadhaar would be mandatory to file income tax returns and that the unique identity should be linked to a person’s Permanent Account Number (PAN).Authentication for Digital Platforms“This notification opens up a method to use Aadhaar for agriculture, education and health schemes where UID can be used for smooth running of schemes through quick identification and weeding out of fakes and duplicates from the system,” the official said.77404540Aadhaar can also be used to curtail misuse of government identity cards such as driving licences, since an offender cannot get a duplicate once it is linked to the unique identity.The Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Rules, 2020, was notified on Wednesday.Under the new rules, any government department can link its schemes with Aadhaar to verify or authenticate once the proposal has been cleared by the Unique Identification Authority of India — the Aadhaar issuing authority — and subsequently by the government.According to the notification, the “Central Government may allow Aadhaar authentication by requesting entities in the interest of good governance, preventing leakage of public funds, promoting ease of living of residents and enabling better access to services for them…”It said the authentication could be used for digital platforms to ensure good governance; prevention of dissipation of social welfare benefits; and enablement of innovation and the spread of knowledge.The authentication rules shall, however, be “voluntary”, meaning beneficiaries can choose not to part with their Aadhaar details.WIDER SCOPEExperts said privacy advocates could contest the notification as it expands the scope of Aadhaar to almost levels seen before the apex court order.If the rules are challenged legally, the government may be able to defend Aadhaar’s use for schemes where public money is being spent, said Sunil Abraham, Endowed Professor for Digital Policy and Design Practices at ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands.“But areas such as ‘spread of knowledge’ or ‘ensure good governance’ may not qualify, since they really don’t require a linkage with Aadhaar,” he said.Its ramped-up usage will expose the country to profiling risks once again.Full report on www.economictimes.com

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