Yashwant Sinha-headed panel has reiterated the need for fresh legislation despite assurances from the government
BJP leader Yashwant Sinha. The proposed legislation will provide for the creation of the National Identification Authority of India, which will oversee the implementation of the Aadhaar project to provide unique IDs. Photo: HT
New Delhi:
The parliamentary standing committee on finance chaired by senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha has reiterated the need for fresh legislation on the unique identification (UID) project despite assurances from the government.
The ministry of planning addressed various issues pertaining to the need for project security, privacy and budgetary concerns in its response to the earlier report of the committee.
The “ministry of law and justice as well as the attorney general of India have opined that action to enroll residents by UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) in terms of the executive notification issued on 28 January 2009 is valid,” it told the committee.
It added that the government is pushing for a UID legislation as it felt a regulatory structure supported by a legal framework would lead to more effective functioning of UIDAI.
“Particularly, any violations of security and privacy of UID data on the part of any of the stakeholders that may arise in the future, could be dealt with in a more rigorous and firm manner under a defined legal mechanism which would be possible by enacting the proposed National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010,” it added in its response.
However, the committee said that the government should urgently address the various issues pointed out by it in the earlier report and “bring forth a fresh legislation before Parliament”.
The proposed legislation will provide for the creation of the National Identification Authority of India, which will oversee the implementation of the Aadhaar project to provide unique IDs. The Bill will ensure that the authority has the legal sanctity to execute the project.
It also seeks to define the penalties for misuse of the data collected under the UID project. Some political parties had recently raised concerns over the government rolling out cash transfers of subsidies without the UID Bill being passed in the Parliament. The Aadhaar number is one of the elements of the cash transfer programme.
“So many state agencies such as banks, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana etc don’t require a separate legislation to collect biometrics in the country. UID has 100% legal backing and there is a misconception that it can’t operate without the legislation being passed,” a senior government official said.
The government said in November that it would start rolling out direct cash transfer of subsidies and benefits based on UID in around 50 districts by 1 January, across 18 states from 31 April, and to the rest of the country by 2014.