UIDAI aka Aadhaar ties up with I-T dept for PAN cards
The Income Tax department and the Unique Identification Authority of India have agreed "in-principle" to come together for rolling out PAN cards with unique 16 digit Aadhaar number.
I-T and UIDAI tie up for PAN cards
New Delhi: The Unique Identification (UID) project, headed by Nandan Nilekani, has been renamed 'Aadhaar', which means foundation or support.
Official sources said both the UIDAI headed by Nandan Nilekani and the Finance Ministry has held series of meetings on the subject and are now in the process of working out the modalities. The Aadhaar, earlier known as Unique Identification Number, will be issued after collection of prints of all ten fingers, iris and face.
This collaboration might pave the way for the delayed biometric PAN cards, an initiative proposed by the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in 2006 to counter the problem of duplicate PAN cards which were uncovered during IT searches and raids by police and other enforcement agencies.
It could also, however, cap the plan as the UID number itself will cut out the duplicates. "Yes, the IT department has in principle agreed for UID based PAN cards," Nilekani told PTI when asked.
Incidentally, sources said the Income Tax department had put on hold the proposal to issue biometric PAN cards to avoid duplication with the UID numbers. The proposed biometric PAN cards would have carried the income tax assesses' fingerprints (two from each hand) and the face.
Such a card, it was hoped, would be difficult to duplicate or manipulate. But after the UIDAI was set up last year, the IT department's plan has been put on hold.
A senior Finance Ministry official said, "the biometric PAN card project of the department has been kept in abeyance till the UID is rolled out.
In the meantime, the suspension will allow the IT department to understand and analyse whether after a biometric UID, a PAN with similar features would be necessary or not."
The Aadhaar number is expected to roll out by February, 2011. Officials are hopeful that if the UID is made mandatory for issuing PAN cards in the future, the present cases of certain people having more than one PAN card would be curbed
The UID Authority of India (UIDAI), which aims to give the 1.2 billion residents of the country a unique 12-digit identification number, also unveiled a new logo that depicts a yellow-coloured sun with a fingerprint in the centre. The logo was selected after a nationwide competition that received 2,000 entries.
"The UID itself is very confusing. Some people call it DUI, somebody calls it IUD and so forth. So it was getting a little difficult to explain all the various permutations and combinations of this acronym. Also, we wanted a name and logo that would communicate a sense of confidence to the common people -- a name with a national appeal and easy to remember," said Nilekani while unveiling the new name and logo here today.
Emphasising that 'Aadhaar' would communicate the essence of UID to all, Nilekani said: "We wanted a name that had a national appeal, could be recognised across the country and resonate in different languages, besides being easy to remember and speak. Aadhaar is a door to open all other doors."
The authority has been allocated Rs 1,900 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2011, of which Rs 1,300 crore will be used to enable the registrars to enroll people in the system and the remaining Rs 600 crore will go towards the setting up of the IT infrastructure. "The 13th Finance Commission has given Rs 3,000 crore over the next five years. So, funds are not an issue," Nilekani added, without giving a timeframe for the first set of numbers to be launched.
Earlier this year, the Commission, headed by Vijay L Kelkar, granted Rs 2,989.1 crore to the UID project through two grants of Rs 616 crore each for District Innovation Funds and improving statistical systems at district and state levels, besides a grant of Rs 225 crore to set up database of employees and pensioners.
Nilekani added there would be one software developer who would work with the registrars and the tender for it has been finalised. "The UIDAI will not make the number mandatory, but it is up to the registrars to make it mandatory or not. We are also taking iris as a biometric, besides the ten fingerprints, because, in children, the fingerprints do not take form till six years of age. Also, labourers' fingerprints get worn out," he explained.
Currently, UIDAI is executing Proof of Concepts (PoCs) in three states -- Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. These PoCs will enable certain systems to be tested before the concept is scaled up. The UIDAI plans to complete field testing on enrolment and biometric processes by mid-July.
Why this Blog ? News articles in the Wide World of Web, quite often disappear with time, when they are relocated as archives with a different url. Archives in this blog serve as a library for those who are interested in doing Research on Aadhaar Related Topics. Articles are published with details of original publication date and the url.
In 2009, I became extremely concerned with the concept of Unique Identity for various reasons. Connected with many like minded highly educated people who were all concerned.
On 18th May 2010, I started this Blog to capture anything and everything I came across on the topic. This blog with its million hits is a testament to my concerns about loss of privacy and fear of the ID being misused and possible Criminal activities it could lead to.
In 2017 the Supreme Court of India gave its verdict after one of the longest hearings on any issue. I did my bit and appealed to the Supreme Court Judges too through an On Line Petition.
In 2019 the Aadhaar Legislation has been revised and passed by the two houses of the Parliament of India making it Legal. I am no Legal Eagle so my Opinion carries no weight except with people opposed to the very concept.
In 2019, this Blog now just captures on a Daily Basis list of Articles Published on anything to do with Aadhaar as obtained from Daily Google Searches and nothing more. Cannot burn the midnight candle any longer.
"In Matters of Conscience, the Law of Majority has no place"- Mahatma Gandhi
Ram Krishnaswamy
Sydney, Australia.
Aadhaar
The UIDAI has taken two successive governments in India and the entire world for a ride. It identifies nothing. It is not unique. The entire UID data has never been verified and audited. The UID cannot be used for governance, financial databases or anything. It’s use is the biggest threat to national security since independence. – Anupam Saraph 2018
When I opposed Aadhaar in 2010 , I was called a BJP stooge. In 2016 I am still opposing Aadhaar for the same reasons and I am told I am a Congress die hard. No one wants to see why I oppose Aadhaar as it is too difficult. Plus Aadhaar is FREE so why not get one ? Ram Krishnaswamy
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.-Mahatma Gandhi
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.Mahatma Gandhi
“The invasion of privacy is of no consequence because privacy is not a fundamental right and has no meaning under Article 21. The right to privacy is not a guaranteed under the constitution, because privacy is not a fundamental right.” Article 21 of the Indian constitution refers to the right to life and liberty -Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi
“There is merit in the complaints. You are unwittingly allowing snooping, harassment and commercial exploitation. The information about an individual obtained by the UIDAI while issuing an Aadhaar card shall not be used for any other purpose, save as above, except as may be directed by a court for the purpose of criminal investigation.”-A three judge bench headed by Justice J Chelameswar said in an interim order.
Legal scholar Usha Ramanathan describes UID as an inverse of sunshine laws like the Right to Information. While the RTI makes the state transparent to the citizen, the UID does the inverse: it makes the citizen transparent to the state, she says.
Good idea gone bad
I have written earlier that UID/Aadhaar was a poorly designed, unreliable and expensive solution to the really good idea of providing national identification for over a billion Indians. My petition contends that UID in its current form violates the right to privacy of a citizen, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. This is because sensitive biometric and demographic information of citizens are with enrolment agencies, registrars and sub-registrars who have no legal liability for any misuse of this data. This petition has opened up the larger discussion on privacy rights for Indians. The current Article 21 interpretation by the Supreme Court was done decades ago, before the advent of internet and today’s technology and all the new privacy challenges that have arisen as a consequence.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP Rajya Sabha
“What is Aadhaar? There is enormous confusion. That Aadhaar will identify people who are entitled for subsidy. No. Aadhaar doesn’t determine who is eligible and who isn’t,” Jairam Ramesh
But Aadhaar has been mythologised during the previous government by its creators into some technology super force that will transform governance in a miraculous manner. I even read an article recently that compared Aadhaar to some revolution and quoted a 1930s historian, Will Durant.Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Rajya Sabha MP
“I know you will say that it is not mandatory. But, it is compulsorily mandatorily voluntary,” Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Saba April 2017.
August 24, 2017: The nine-judge Constitution Bench rules that right to privacy is “intrinsic to life and liberty”and is inherently protected under the various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the World; indeed it's the only thing that ever has"
“Arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.” -Edward Snowden
In the Supreme Court, Meenakshi Arora, one of the senior counsel in the case, compared it to living under a general, perpetual, nation-wide criminal warrant.
Had never thought of it that way, but living in the Aadhaar universe is like living in a prison. All of us are treated like criminals with barely any rights or recourse and gatekeepers have absolute power on you and your life.
Announcing the launch of the # BreakAadhaarChainscampaign, culminating with events in multiple cities on 12th Jan. This is the last opportunity to make your voice heard before the Supreme Court hearings start on 17th Jan 2018. In collaboration with @no2uidand@rozi_roti.
UIDAI's security seems to be founded on four time tested pillars of security idiocy
1) Denial
2) Issue fiats and point finger
3) Shoot messenger
4) Bury head in sand.
God Save India
