12118 - Two days NHRC National Seminar on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights concludes with several important suggestions Governance should be accountable, transparent and participative: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad - Business Standard

Two days NHRC National Seminar on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights concludes with several important suggestions Governance should be accountable, transparent and participative: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

Delhi 

Last Updated at September 23, 2017 00:20 IST

Two days NHRC National Seminar on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights concludes with several important suggestions 

Governance should be accountable, transparent and participative: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad 

The Two days National Seminar organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Good Governance, Development and Human Rights concluded here today with several important suggestions. Addressing the concluding session as the Chief Guest, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister, Ministry of Law & Justice and Electronics and Information Technology said that good governance is very important to sustain India and Governance can be good only if it is accountable, transparent and participative.

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Government has incorporated digital governance for empowerment of India and to provide good governance. Integrity, accountability and transparency come from digital platforms. It is through digitization that the Government has saved 58 thousand crore rupees from pilferage. He said that the Government is proposing to link driving license with Aadhaar number to stop their duplication. Several crore fake gas connections have been identified after being linked with Aadhaar numbers, he said. Fictitious bank accounts will not be possible once these are linked with Aadhaar. He said that digital spread is to ensure participative India. Today, four crore digital transactions are happening in the country which is quite high compared to what used to be a few years back. Access to justice is also good governance and judiciary should also look into this aspect, he said.

Earlier, NHRC Chairperson, Shri Justice H. L. Dattu said that good governance is rooted in the empowerment of people and this can help foster respect and protection for human rights. Principles of human rights help guide the development of legislations, policies, programme and budgetary allocation. He said that the proper implementation of good governance will also lead to the effective realization of the UN’s 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals.

The suggestions which emerged during the two-day discussions among various stakeholders, included, among others, improvement in health care system, quality education, infrastructure and research to create a database; putting in place a system to check corruption and change  in mindsets for compliance by States.

The seminar was inaugurated by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh yesterday.

The participants included NHRC Members, Shri Justice P.C. Ghose, Shri Justice D. Murugesan, Shri S.C. Sinha, Ms. Jyotika Kalra, Secretary General, Shri Ambuj Sharma, Chairperson and Members of State Human Rights Commissions and other Commissions, senior officers of the Central and State Governments, members of core group and committees of NHRC, media persons, NGOs, academicians, research scholars.

 (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Fri, September 22 2017. 00:20 IST

10581 - RTI activist’s Aadhaar query get national recognition - TNN

RTI activist’s Aadhaar query get national recognition

Vijay Pinjarkar | TNN | Nov 9, 2016, 02.24 AM IST

Nagpur: City RTI activist Avinash Prabhune has been recognized for his query on Aadhaar cards that led to a correction in the system. Prabhune's name figures in 'RTI Yashgatha', a book narrating 62 success stories of RTI Act. Prabhune pointed out a big flaw in Aadhaar card which missed date of birth of applicants. By the time Prabhune pointed out the error, 21 crore cards were already issued by the government. After Prabhune's continue follow ups through RTI, finally in September 2013, Aadhaar cards were issued with date of birth. 

TOI ran a series of articles since December 2012 when the issue was first raised.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh released 'RTI Yashgatha' at the 11th annual convention of Central Information Commission (CIC) in Delhi on Tuesday. The book has been compiled by Pune-based Yashwanatrao Chavan Academy of Developmental Administration (YASHDA). Apart from 62 success stories, best practices followed by government offices regarding RTI have been mentioned in the book. 

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definitly aadhar cards must have date of birth of the holder

Thomas Cheenath

Maharashtra leads the country with six success stories while Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana have contributed three such success stories each.

Rajnath Singh too appreciated the book by stating that our system needs to be corruption-free, smart, sensitive, transparent and answerable for making all the programmes of government a success.

8158 - PM Narendra Modi Reviews Aadhaar Benefits Scheme - NDTV

PM Narendra Modi Reviews Aadhaar Benefits Scheme

All India | Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: June 18, 2015 17:17 IST

NEW DELHI:  Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held a review of the Unique Identification or Aadhar and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and called for accelerating the delivery of benefits through both schemes.

Reviewing the progress at a high-level meeting, he called for expansion of the applications of the Aadhaar platform, so that its benefits can be extended to as many public services as possible. He directed officials concerned to identify applications, where concrete results can be achieved in the next two months, according to an official statement.

Appreciating the progress made in some areas, Modi sought the strengthening of the institutional mechanism related with Aadhaar and DBT.

The prime minister was informed that a total of 14 to 15 per cent saving is being achieved in cooking gas subsidy alone, as a result of elimination of leakages, and duplication.

The meeting was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministers of State in the Finance and Home Ministries Jayant Sinha and Haribhai Chaudhary, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya and other senior officials.

8044 - Caste to community, BJP seeks full disclosure from new members - Indian Express

Caste to community, BJP seeks full disclosure from new members

Primary members will also have to give their Aadhaar and Electors Photo Identity Card numbers and disclose if they have opened savings account in banks under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana.

As part of the Abhiyan, a door-to-door campaign, the BJP workers will approach around 1.8 crore new members in Uttar Pradesh and get the proforma filled by them.

Written by Lalmani Verma | Lucknow | Published on:May 25, 2015 1:54 am

The new BJP members will have to tell their caste, the “area of interest”, and whether they belong to the minority community, as per a proforma being distributed during the party’s Mahasampark Abhiyan that began in Awadh and Kashi regions Sunday.

As part of the Abhiyan, a door-to-door campaign, the BJP workers will approach around 1.8 crore new members in Uttar Pradesh and get the proforma filled by them.

In the column under the head “social category”, the new members will have to disclose whether if they belong to general category, OBC, SC/ST or minority community. 

Prakash Sharma, party state vice-president, who launched the campaign in Mughalsarai with party national joint general secretary (organsiation) Shiv Prakash, said BJP wants to reach people from every caste and community. “These details would help the party reach them,” he said.

“The data will be helpful for the party in selecting nominees and deploying leaders for select areas during elections,” said another party leader.

The primary members will also have to give their Aadhaar and Electors Photo Identity Card numbers and disclose if they have opened savings account in banks under Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana. Home Minister Rajnath Singh launched the campaign in Lucknow.

5909 - Government likely to make seeding of mobile SIMs with Aadhaar a must - Economic Times

Government likely to make seeding of mobile SIMs with Aadhaar a must

PTI Oct 29, 2014, 04.17AM IST

NEW DELHI: Government is likely to make it mandatory to link mobile SIM connections with Aadhhar number to weed out ghost users and curb the misuse of mobile phones for any terrorist act, extortion or other offences.

"Government has planned to make it compulsory seeding of mobile SIM cards with Aadhaar to keep a tab on use of mobile phone connection for anti-social act including terrorism and extortion," a source said.

In a recent review of the Aadhaar project, government top brass felt it is appropriate to make the seeding of Aadhaar compulsory for new as well as old mobile phone connection, the sources added.

Earlier, the Home Ministry had raised concerns over the use of Aadhaar number as a single source of identity verification.

However, recently the ministry has supported Aadhaar scheme saying it will facilitate "anytime, anywhere, anyhow" authentication to its beneficiaries.

In a letter to state governments, the Home Ministry said that since one Aadhaar number is allotted only to one person, it allows universal verification of one's identity.

Besides, Aadhaar card also enables the deprived and needy people to access services like banking facilities.

According to the source, the government may go slow on linking SIM cards with Aadhaar numbers as the entire population of the country does not have the unique identification number.

Earlier during the UPA regime, the government's plan to make Aadhaar linked bank account mandatory for getting cooking gas subsidy hit a road block. The implementation of the project was suspended after the apex court's interim order.

The Supreme Court had observed that the government cannot deny any benefit to citizen simply because somebody does not have Aadhaar.

As per experts, the Court's view was appropriate at that time as coverage under the Aadhaar project was low.

At present, the Unique Identification Authority of India ( UIDAI) has issued Aadhaar numbers to over 70 crore residents in the country. It has been mandated to generate Aadhaar numbers of 100 crore residents by December.

Government has set the deadline of June next year for covering the entire population under the Aadhaar project.

Experts feel that once the entire population is covered under the project, it would not be difficult for government to use Aadhaar database for rolling out various social welfare scheme and making country's internal security apparatus more robust.

5907 - Home Ministry does U-turn on Aadhaar scheme - Deccan Herald

Home Ministry does U-turn on Aadhaar scheme

Says will give full support to project

In a complete reversal of stand, the Union Home Ministry under Rajnath Singh has favoured Aadhaar numbers as they not only “eliminate” fraud and bogus activity but also help identify beneficiaries of government schemes.

The ministry’s change of mind on Aadhaar comes out in identical letters written to states asking them to start enrolment process in jails to enable prisoners to get such identification numbers.

The volte-face on “Aadhaar” comes months after Singh told Deccan Herald in April during election campaign that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would “review” the project if it comes to power at the Centre. The ministry under P Chidambaram and Sushilkumar Shinde had been against “Aadhaar”, preferring the National Population Register (NPR).

The BJP had been critical of the United Progressive Alliance’s Aadhaar scheme . A Parliamentary Standing Committee, then headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, had found fault with its duplication with NPR exercise and security concerns arising out of its enrolment process.

In the letter, three out of the five paragraphs sing paeans of the scheme while just mentioning NPR, which was once the pet project of home ministers, including Singh. Singh had earlier set a three-year deadline to identify genuine Indian citizens through the NPR.

While acknowledging NPR is also a national identity programme run by the government, the letter said the benefits of Aadhaar are many.

“Aadhaar can be used at multiple places to prove one’s identity very easily,” it said. The number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets the “Know Your Customer” norms as well as booking tickets online or applying for passport as it serves as identification.

Since one Aadhaar number is allotted to only one person, the letter said, it helps to verify one’s identity and it “eliminates the threat of any fraud and bogus activity”.

“Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification. Aadhaar will facilitate ‘anytime, anywhere, anyhow’ authentication to its beneficiaries. Aadhaar will be a single source of identity verification,” it said.

Giving more details of how Aadhaar can be beneficial, the letter said it will give migrants universal mobility of identity and the government can now provide services and facilities to people, especially in the rural areas, in a “more effective manner.”

The letter also betrayed the National Democratic Alliance government’s change in stand on Aadhaar as it said that more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar.

“It would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card,” the ministry said. However, the ministry had earlier suspected the efficacy of Aadhaar. Uniqueness of identity was not a necessary condition for ensuring authenticity of identity or records of Aadhaar numbers.

5890 - Home Ministry praises the Aadhaar project - Economic Times

Home Ministry praises the Aadhaar project

Aman Sharma, ET Bureau Oct 22, 2014, 04.00AM IST

NEW DELHI: Once a strong critic of the Aadhaar project, the Union home ministry has now effusively praised the project in a letter to all states, saying Aadhaar's biometric identification process eliminates "the threat of any fraud or bogus activity."

The letter sent on September 27 asked states to initiate a drive to enroll all prisoners under the scheme. It followed a directive from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Prisoners should be briefed adequately as to the benefits of obtaining an Aadhaar card before the start of the drive to remove any misgivings about the process," the letter said.

This is a marked shift in the ministry's stand, which has so far pitched for its National Population Register (NPR) project as a more fool-proof mechanism for recording biometric details of citizens.

"Since one Aadhaar is allotted to only one person, it enables the capacity to verify one's identity universally. Aadhaar will allow deprived and needy people in accessing services like banking," the ministry said.

Modi has thrown his weight behind the Aadhaar project, overruling objections from the home ministry that the Unique Identification Authority (UIDAI) has overlooked security concerns by handing over the Aadhaar enrolment process to private parties. "Since Aadhaar is based on the demographic and biometric information of an individual, it eliminates the threat of any fraud or bogus activity. Aadhaar will provide its possessor with universal identification," said the home ministry's letter.

The ministry has now also conceded that Aadhaar will be a "single source" of identity verification and give a universal mobility to migrants.

"Aadhaar will facilitate 'anytime, anywhere, anyhow' authentication to its beneficiary. 

The benefits of Aadhaar are many. Aadhaar can be used at multiple places to prove one's identity easily. A person's Aadhaar number can be used while opening a bank account as it meets 'know-yourcustomer' norms of RBI, applying for passport, and at many other places where there is a need to give the proof of identity," the letter said.

It added that as more and more government services are going to be linked to Aadhaar, it would be of utility to have an Aadhaar card.

"Aadhaar will, hence, help the poor people to take the benefits of the facilities provided to them by government which could not be accessed by these people earlier. Aadhaar will, thus, become the simplest way of proving one's identity," the letter said.

Regarding enrolling prisoners under Aadhaar, the ministry has said it would be of "immense utility" to offer Aadhaar to them as a welfare measure, since there may be many inmates who may have missed the enrolment process as they were in jail.

"The Tihar Jail has started the enrolment process and received a very good response. The enrolment process is voluntary and there is no compulsion involved as in Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920. Moreover, the data so collected by the UIDAI is not meant for use by the correctional home and is only for the provision of an Aadhaar card to enable the re-integration of the under-trial prisoner or convict on release," the ministry said.

5848 - PM Narendra Modi wants Aadhaar plan fast-tracked - Asian Age

PM Narendra Modi wants Aadhaar plan fast-tracked

• Sep 07, 2014 | Age Correspondent | New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for speeding up of UID-based Aadhaar project for early linkage of Aadhar number with various government benefit schemes, like recently-launched Jan Dhan Yojana, various kinds of scholarship and pension schemes and also to introduce Aadhaar number linked attendance system in government.

To speed up the process, the PM has desired to put on hold the verification concern being raised by the home ministry as far as rolling out of the Aadhaar number is concerned.

On Saturday, Mr Modi held a review meeting with home minister Rajnath Singh and communication and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and reviewed the progress through a presentation made by director-general of the Unique Identification Authority of India Vijay S. Madan.

The meeting, it is learnt, discussed to resolve the issue of verification of data collected by private vendors. Sources said, the Prime Minister wanted that the generation of UID number should be made independent of the National Population Register and accordingly the home ministry has been instructed to put on hold the verification issue with respect to UID numbers. The government would conduct a dry run for Aadhaar-linked attendance system for the government officials on September 14, sources said.

The high powered meeting meanwhile reviewed progress of the Aadhaar project, particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where other schemes are facing difficulties due to low enrolments.

Currently, the government estimates show that a total of 66.99 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued. In Uttar Pradesh, about 4.62 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued against a population of 19.95 crore. In Bihar, around 1.41 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued against a population of about 10.38 crore.

Aadhaar project can substantially reduce the duplicity of beneficiaries and help plug leakages, sources said.

5760 - Indian Citizen ID Card: What You May Need To Get It = NDTV

Indian Citizen ID Card: What You May Need To Get It

All India | Written by Sudhi Ranjan Sen | Updated: August 05, 2014 08:54 IS

  Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh

India is poised to create a massive database that will result in an identity card being issued to all individuals accepted as citizens.  

Top sources confirmed to NDTV that the Union Cabinet is likely to approve the initiative to build the National Register for Indian Citizens  which will be carried out by the Home Ministry.  

Last month, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament, "We have to identify who is an  Indian citizen and who is not."

One of 20 documents including birth certificates and land records will have to be furnished by citizens. In rural areas, for those who do not have these records, a separate process of verification has been devised by village-level bodies. (Also read: Aadhaar - The confusion continues)

In the pilot study conducted in 2009 with a sample size of a few lakhs, only 85 per cent of the residents surveyed qualified as citizens. Nearly 2% cent were found to be illegal migrants.

  

The fate of those who do not qualify as Indian citizens and are categorized as "illegal migrants" will have to be decided. Broadly there are two options -  they can be asked to leave the country or alternatively the government can  issue them work permits and allow them to be in India. Sources say the cabinet has not yet begun discussing this aspect. (Aadhaar not mandatory: Supreme Court sticks to order, cabinet clears Bill to legalise scheme)

The database, when complete, will render obsolete the National Population Register, which lists all residents of an area who have lived there for six months or longer, and the much-discussed Aadhar scheme, which ascribes an 12-digit unique number to a person based on their biometrics, introduced by the previous government to make direct cash transfers to the poor for welfare schemes.  

Unlike the Aadhar scheme, it will be mandatory for citizens to enlist with the database of citizens. (UPA's flagship scheme Aadhar in a limbo)

"As of now we do not have fix of the exact cost but it should be about RS 4000 crore. The Register General of India which will issue the citizenship cards will be conducting another pilot to work out the cost," a senior official told NDTV. 

The entire process including the issuing of identity cards is likely to be over by 2018, said sources. 

For NDTV Updates

5713 - Aadhaar gets a lifeline as Nandan Nilekani impresses Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley - TNN

Aadhaar gets a lifeline as Nandan Nilekani impresses Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley

Vikas Dhoot & M Rajshekhar,ET Bureau | Jul 24, 2014, 10.41 AM IST

There is enough evidence to suggest that the crucial July 1 meeting between Nilekani, the prime minister and the FM, brought forth a volte face in the government stand on UIDAI. 

NEW DELHI: Four days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first public statement surprisingly backing the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), former UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani met with the PM and finance minister Arun Jaitley and persuaded the new regime to persist with Aadhaar numbers and the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme.

This meeting — a life-saver for the Aadhaar programme — happened on the first of July. On July 5, Modi sought a 100 crore enrolment target under Aadhaar at the 'earliest', casting aside earlier notions that the new government will go slow on the UIDAI project.

Nilekani, who was appointed by Congress to head UIDAI in 2009, was in Delhi in the last days of June to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him in Lutyens' Delhi. It is during this period that he — and UIDAI — sought and obtained a meeting with the prime minister and the finance minister. Nine days after this meeting, Jaitley, in the Union Budget, increased allocation for UIDAI from Rs 1,550 crore (revised estimate) to Rs 2,039 crore.

There is enough evidence to suggest that the crucial July 1 meeting between Nilekani, the prime minister and the FM, brought forth a volte face in the government stand on UIDAI.

Only two days before this, on July 3, home minister Rajnath Singh, telecom, IT and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and planning minister Rao Inderjeet Singh had met with top officials to discuss UIDAI versus the National Population Register (NPR), an entity under the home ministry that conducts the decadal census. The conclusions did not favour UIDAI in the form it was running till then.

Instead, it was decided that a panel of secretaries will work to ensure greater synergy between NPR and Aadhaar to prevent duplication in efforts to capture biometrics and the costs thereof. Earlier, BJP had also made plenty of anti-Aadhaar noises during its election campaign.

Shortly after the party won, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told ET: "Our concerns with Aadhaar are two-fold: the lack of a legal backing and the security implications."

READ ALSO: Modi govt to give legal backing to Aadhaar

"There was a vacuum between May 16 happen to Aadhaar," a source close to UIDAI said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. This is also the time when the home ministry made a play to control Aadhaar. Highly placed sources say a proposal to move UIDAI to the home ministry was being explored.

This rattled UIDAI, which functions under the authority of the Planning Commission headed by the PM.

Says an UIDAI official, speaking on the condition of anonymity: "We were not even consulted." "It was unclear what was the backdrop for Nilekani's meeting with the PM and FM. Nilekani argued that by "removing ghosts and duplicates from the beneficiary lists of welfare programmes, Aadhaar can help India save Rs 50,000 crore which would help with the fiscal deficit", sources told ET.

The ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court was also discussed at the meeting. "The Bill is ready to be passed. You could get it passed in this session itself. Once you pass the Bill, the SC will lay off the matter," Nilekani reportedly told Jaitely, sources close to UIDAI said. Nilekani declined comment. Questions sent to Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to the PM and PMO's press officer remained unanswered.

The July 5 meeting at PM's residence — after which Modi publicly backed UIDAI — was attended by Jaitley, home minister Rajnath Singh, UIDAI director-general Vijay Madan, registrar-general C Chandramouli, home secretary Anil Goswami, planning commission secretary Sindhushree Khullar, Nripendra Misra and others. It lasted two-and-a-half hours. Neither NPR nor UIDAI got to make any presentations at this meeting.

Instead, two Gujarat cadre officers — one retired and one still serving — were asked to list out the virtues and problems of UIDAI and NPR. After a discussion, Modi unequivocally went in favour of UIDAI.

There is now clarity on many issues. "Aadhaar stays in the Planning Commission. Direct Benefits Transfer scheme is being revived," the source close to UIDAI said.

But some questions remain. It is expected that Modi will announce a new financial inclusion drive on August 15. Banks are likely to be encouraged to open 20 crore new accounts, each bundled with an overdraft ranging from Rs 1,000-5,000. It is yet unclear if these accounts will be Aadhaar-based.

5651 - Modi backs UIDAI, seeks accelerated DBT rollout - Business Standard

Modi backs UIDAI, seeks accelerated DBT rollout

Asks officials to revive the National Identification Authority of India Bill

Sahil Makkar, Nitin Sethi & Surabhi Agarwal  |  New Delhi  July 5, 2014 Last Updated at 23:30 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a vote of confidence to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is generating Aadhaar numbers for India's 1.2-billion strong population. He sought the speedy roll-out of the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme, a flagship programme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

This effectively ends a turf war, which had raised questions about the survival of the UIDAI project, and sets aside the committee of secretaries set up earlier this week to iron out differences between the home ministry, UIDAI and the informational technology ministry.

It is learnt the prime minister has asked officials to revive the National Identification Authority of India Bill, trashed by the standing committee on finance, headed by Yashwant Sinha in the UPA regime.

COMING BACK TO LIFE

Many say the decision had been taken keeping in mind the need to trim subsidies FM has been tasked with dealing with ongoing Supreme Court cases on the matter PM sought DBT be expedited in the 300 districts where 80% have Aadhaar cards

"Finance Minister Jaitley has been asked to handle the legal issues surrounding UID," said a senior government functionary, on condition of anonymity. Other government officials, too, confirmed the development. Jaitley has also been tasked with dealing with ongoing Supreme Court cases on the matter. The apex court had stayed the UPA government's move to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing the benefits of government social schemes.

At a meeting on Saturday, Modi directed DBT for liquefied petroleum gas cylinders, pension and scholarships should be expedited in the 300 districts in which more than 80 per cent of the district population had received Aadhaar numbers.

Among those present at the meeting were Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Planning & Statistics Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Home Secretary Anil Goswami and UIDAI director-general Vijay Madan.

At the meeting, the prime minister made it clear the Aadhaar programme was directly under his control, as he was also chairman of the Planning Commission, sources told Business Standard.

Sources said the decision had been taken keeping in mind the need to trim subsidies in the coming Budget.

Earlier, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had given a unilateral nod for the National Citizenship Register, on the basis of the National Population Register (NPR).

At the same time, contradicting the home minister, the UIDAI had sought the Cabinet's approval to use the funds allocated for operations in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Under the UPA government, both NPR and UIDAI had been given the mandate to collect biometric details of Indian residents. According to law, only NPR is mandated to collect such data and UIDAI is to de-duplicate this and generate a 16-digit Aadhaar number.

The Modi-led NDA government has stamped the decision of the previous government and ruled out the merger of UIDAI with NPR. The decision, however, hasn't gone down well with home ministry officials, who were hoping to take over the entire work of collecting biometrics. "Our five-point agenda was to do the collection of entire biometrics ourselves, complete the NCR and ensure UIDAI only de-duplicates and give citizens a national identity card," said a senior official.

UIDAI officials said last week, they had already been directed by their parent ministry to ready the National Identification Authority of India Bill, to be reintroduced in Parliament. Currently, the Bill is in the Rajya Sabha.

"The Bill will have to be revised and resent for inter-ministerial consultation before it goes to the Cabinet," a government official told Business Standard. He added the Bill should be ready to be sent for consultation in the next two weeks. So far, UIDAI has given Aadhaar numbers to 640 million residents, with 177 million coming from the NPR.

5649 - Scrap UIDAI to Create Uniform Database - New Indian Express

Scrap UIDAI to Create Uniform Database

By The New Indian Express

Published: 01st July 2014 06:00 AM

Home minister Rajnath Singh has set a three-year deadline for officials to identify Indian citizens in the country through the National Population Register (NPR) project. The government also wants officials to conduct door-to-door verification across the country and issue NPR cards only to Indian nationals. This is a welcome move as it will not only enable the government to create a national register of Indian citizens for the first time but also facilitate identification of illegal immigrants who pose a threat to India’s security and impose an unnecessary burden on the national economy.

While the primary task of the NPR project is to segregate the Indian nationals from the illegal immigrants, the government’s next logical step now should be to scrap the controversial Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which had been issuing Aadhaar cards to residents of India without Parliament’s sanction, raising serious questions about its impact on national security and citizen’s privacy. The NPR project, conceptualised in 2010 for collection of data of residents, was on several occasions at loggerheads with the UIDAI project as both had overlapping features like biometric identification.

Now that the government has given the NPR project larger powers that include verification as well as linking it to voting rights, there is no reason to continue with the UIDAI. The legality of the UIDAI scheme is already under challenge in the Supreme Court, which has held that the Aadhaar cards issued by it cannot be made mandatory for availing of public services in India and prohibited the UIDAI from sharing biometric data with anyone. The new government has already demonstrated its suspicion of the Aadhaar project by scrapping the cabinet committee on UIDAI. There is no justification for duplicating work and expenditure on collecting similar data and the government will do well to merge the existing data base of the UIDAI with that of NPR to create efficiencies.

5648 - Government favours Aadhaar-NPR synergy - The Hindu

NEW DELHI, July 4, 2014

Updated: July 4, 2014 03:06 IST

Government favours Aadhaar-NPR synergy

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh addressing a press conference on price rise in New Delhi on Thursday. 

Photo: Sandeep Saxena

In a bid to clear confusion and duplication between the National Population Register (NPR) and Aadhaar cards, the NDA government has decided to explore the possibility of a synergy between the two ambitious projects of the previous UPA government.

The issue was discussed at a high-level meeting, convened by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Law and Justice and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh. The meeting discussed how the two could be made “complementary.”

“The issue will now be discussed by officials of all Ministries concerned and a way will be found soon,” Mr. Singh told journalists later.

The Home Ministry has already suggested that the NPR and Aadhaar schemes be merged under the Registrar General of India (RGI) or division of work between the two should be in such a way that enrolment is done entirely by NPR while the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs Aadhaar, carries out deduplication ahead of generating the unique number. The UIDAI was set up by the UPA government in 2009 under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani. It comes under the Planning Commission.

The Home Minister has already set a three-year deadline to identify genuine Indian citizens through the NPR project. The government also wants enumerators to conduct door-to-door verification and issue NPR cards to Indian nationals only.

It is also planning to link NPR to voting rights which would mean that voter ID cards would not be the sole document for eligibility to vote, officials said.

Keywords: Rajnath Singh, NPR, UIDAI, Aadhaar

5642 - Govt looking at ways to make Aadhaar work with NPR - Deccan Herald

Govt looking at ways to make Aadhaar work with NPR

New Delhi, July 3, 2014, DHNS:

Home Minister chaired a meeting reviewing aspects of these projects

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is examining how to bring synergy between the National Population Register (NPR) and the Aadhaar card projects to make them ''complementary'' while at the same time avoid duplication.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired an inter-minsterial meeting on the issue on Thursday in which Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh attended.

The meeting came against the backdrop of the Home Ministry suggesting that NPR and Aadhaar schemes should be merged under the Registrar General of India (RGI). Another option given by the Ministry was division of work in such a way that enrolment is done by NPR while UIDAI, which runs Aadhaar, carried out de-duplication ahead of generating the unique number.

During Lok Sabha election campaigning, Singh had told Deccan Herald that once BJP comes to power, they will review whether Aadhaar cards are needed or not.

At the meeting, the three ministers reviewed various aspects of NPR and Aadhaar and discussed ways to avoid duplication between the two and about the suggestion of combining NPR and Aadhaar schemes.

 The secretaries of the three ministries will meet again to take the matter forward.

The BJP has been critical of UPA’s flagship Aadhaar scheme and a parliamentary standing committee, headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, had found fault with its duplication with NPR exercise and security concerns arising out of its enrolment process.

Verifying nationals

The Home Minister has already set a three-year deadline to identify genuine Indian citizens through the NPR project.

The government also wants enumerators to conduct door-to-door verification across the country and issue NPR cards only to Indian nationals.

The UIDAI provides a unique identification number to all resident Indians. About Rs 3,500 crore was spent on Aadhaar programme with enrolment of 50 crore people. 

5639 - Aadhaar may live as government forms panel to consider merger with NPR - Live Mint

Aadhaar may live as government forms panel to consider merger with NPR 

Govt’s move to try and merge the two comes even as it seeks to move ahead with a plan to identify Indian citizens via the NPR and issue citizenship cards Aman Malik 

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nUTDyuy2QgH1zMNl2bjpdM/Aadhaar-may-live-as-government-forms-panel-to-consider-merge.html?utm_source=copy

While Aadhaar gives a unique identity number to a person, thereby authenticating him, it does not confer citizenship. Photo: Ramesh Pathania/Mint New Delhi: 

The government on Thursday formed a panel of secretaries to look into the issue of merging the National Population Register (NPR) with Aadhaar, or the Unique Identification Number. Two senior government officials independently said the decision to form the panel—comprising home secretary Anil Goswami, Planning Commission secretary Sindhushree Khullar and information technology secretary Ram Sewak Sharma—was taken at the end of a presentation made by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner C. Chandramouli. Neither official wanted to be identified. Chandramouli made the presentation before home minister Rajnath Singh, law, telecom and information technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and junior minister for planning Rao Inderjit Singh. Besides Goswami and Khullar, Vijay S. Madan, director-general and mission director at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was also present. Sharma did not attend the meeting. While the panel has not been given any definitive terms of reference or a deadline, it has been asked to come up with a report “as soon as possible”, one of the two people said. At a press conference, the home minister confirmed that a meeting on the issue had indeed taken place, but did not share any details. The government’s move to try and merge the two comes even as it seeks to move ahead with a plan to identify Indian citizens via the NPR and issue citizenship cards in the next three years. While Aadhaar gives a unique identity number to a person, thereby authenticating him, it does not confer citizenship. Two other people with direct knowledge of the matter said the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner (which deals with NPR and is a wing of the home ministry) wants to “take back” the job of enrolling people for Aadhaar from the UIDAI. Although initially both NPR and UIDAI were asked to share the enrolment equally, over time, the latter was mandated to enrol 940 million people. While UIDAI officials say they have enrolled 700 million people, home ministry officials put the figure at 630 million. One of the people cited above said that during Thursday’s presentation, the home ministry suggested UIDAI “should be brought under its control”, but both Rao Inderjit Singh and Prasad had reservations about the idea. Mint could not independently confirm this. Neither minister could be immediately reached for comment. Officials said while there was no clarity on which wing of the government would control UIDAI, the agency’s demand for an additional budgetary allocation of Rs.680 crore is likely to be approved by the government in the next few days. A 30 June report in The Indian Express newspaper said the government plans to link the citizenship card to the voter identification card, which enables an Indian citizen to exercise his franchise during elections to the Parliament, state legislatures and local bodies. Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, said the UIDAI under the home ministry “would be interested only in Indian citizens. Authentication functionality of Aadhaar number will no longer be important”.

Read more at: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/nUTDyuy2QgH1zMNl2bjpdM/Aadhaar-may-live-as-government-forms-panel-to-consider-merge.html?utm_source=copy

5611 - On table: Aadhaar for citizens, not residents - The Telegraph India

Front Page > Nation > Story

On table: Aadhaar for citizens, not residents NISHIT DHOLABHAI New Delhi, June 18: Aadhaar numbers and cards will be issued only to Indian citizens and not “usual residents”, the government today proposed in a departure from the UPA’s policy.

The proposal was made at a meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by the registrar-general of citizenship registration, C. Chandramouli.

The new policy will necessitate changes to a cabinet decision taken by the UPA, besides clearing confusion over the fate of the Aadhaar cards that are issued to residents and are not proof of citizenship.

Sources said it might take over a month for the proposal to be fleshed out and placed before the cabinet.

Over 60 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to “usual residents” — those who have stayed in a locality for at least six months and intend to do so for another six months.

The unique numbers will remain in place. However, if the cabinet clears the proposal, the numbered residents will be issued citizen cards only on the basis of additional death and birth registration data.

Today’s decision would limit the UIDAI’s role to generating the unique numbers and conducting a de-duplication exercise to weed out individuals getting more than one number. The UIDAI eventually may not hold camps to issue Aadhaar cards if Singh’s decision is ratified by the cabinet.

The UPA government’s plan was to derive the subset of citizens from the National Population Register (NPR) after verification of citizenship. However, the NDA government feels that there should be a single exercise leading to a national register of Indian citizens.

Singh said effective steps should be taken to create the national register of citizens, an official release said.

He instructed officials that all proposals, including update of the database through linkages with the birth and death registration system and the issuance of national identity cards to citizens, be brought for approval at the earliest, sources said.

Over the next month, the Registrar-General of India is expected to prepare a roadmap to issue citizenship cards. “The Centre feels unique numbers and cards should be issued only to citizens and there is no need for two types of cards,” a source said.

Since 2010, numbers and cards were issued after collection of biometric data (iris scan and fingerprinting) by two authorities: the RGI’s office under the National Population Register scheme and the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI. Nilekani, who was the face of the UPA’s Aadhaar programme, resigned as UIDAI chairman on March 13 before contesting on a Congress ticket from Bangalore. He lost the election.

The Aadhaar numbers were aimed at improving the use and implementation of benefits and services provided under government schemes, planning and security.

There was some confusion when the UPA decided to allow two agencies to collect data of residents. The UIDAI collected biometric data and issued Aadhaar cards while the NPR also gathered the data. P. Chidambaram and Nilekani had run-ins over which agency would enrol residents.

Plans of the previous government to legislate the UIDAI virtually stand scrapped after today’s meeting.

Getting an Aadhaar card from the UIDAI was optional but enrolment under the National Population Register scheme is mandatory under Citizenship Rules. Often, residents were confused whether they needed to go to an “NPR camp” if they had been to an “Aadhaar camp”. They will have to, according to rules.

The resident is required to visit a National Population Register camp with the unique Aadhaar number, provide additional personal information and undergo verification for registration in the population.

“The enrolment will now be done completely under the National Register of Indian Citizens by the RGI’s office,” said a source.

5609 - Why need Aadhaar when NPR is here?

Why need Aadhaar when NPR is here?

25 June 2014, New Delhi, Shivangi Narayan

With the government’s renewed interest in national population register (NPR), looks like it is the end of the road for Aadhaar

Union minister for home Rajnath Singh has today said that steps would be taken to make the national population register (NPR) project to its logical conclusion. The minister reviewed the project and directed that proposals to populate the register with data from the birth and death registration database and to provide a national identity card to people be made and approved from the ministry of home (MHA) at the earliest.

C Chandramouli, registrar general of citizen registration made a presentation on the project and outlined its importance for national security. NPR is also the biggest e-governance and national security project in the world.

The urgency of the home ministry and in turn the government’s on the NPR project indicates a waning interest in a similar identity initiative – Aadhaar. Speculations are rife, after the Modi government scrapped the cabinet committee on UIDAI, that the projects would see its end in the new government.

Aadhaar/UIDAI was started by the UPA government but never got parliament’s approval. The whole exercise of enrolling 60 crore people on a budget of Rs 3,500 crore was carried through an executive order. With future of Aadhaar at stake, state governments are chalking out a way to work around services integrated with the identity scheme.

According to official sources, R S Sharma, secretary, department of electronics and IT (DeitY) has invited IT secretaries of all states next week to ponder on the future of Aadhaar. States like Kerala, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, where Aadhaar enrolment is close to 100 per cent would have to chalk out future strategies for the use of existing databases of enrolment.

States like Maharshtra and Andhra Pradesh and union territories like Chandigarh have many services currently being provided using Aadhaar. They will have to think about alternative platforms, even NPR, to keep these services alive.

NPR is similar to Aadhaar as it collects identity and biometric data of all citizens. However, it has legal backing and is only for bonafide citizens of India. Even before, Aadhaar was considered as a duplicating the efforts of NPR, which continued even after states were divided into being enrolled either into Aadhaar or NPR. Modi government will probably put an end to this confusion.

By arrangement with Governance Now

5602 - Identity crisis: End of road for Aadhaar - Deccan Chronicle

Identity crisis: End of road for Aadhaar

DC | MUKESH RANJAN | June 21, 2014, 07.06 am IST

New Delhi: With no representation from the Planning Commission in the reconstituted Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), the Modi government has sounded the death knell for the UPA’s ambitious unique ID project.

The plan panel used to be the secretariat for the UIDAI programme and all proposals for its smooth functioning were taken to the Cabinet by the panel.

A sources in the government said, “The plan panel has so far functioned as the financial and administrative controller of the UIDAI. This was so because the authority does not have legal backing. Under the given scheme of things, the deputy chairman of the panel used to present UIDAI proposal in the Cabinet.”

Since the newly reconstituted CCEA does not have representation from the planning commission, this could well be seen as the end of the road for the UPA’s cherished programme.

The Modi government first scrapped the Cabinet committee on UIDAI and, in its official communication, said that the issues relating to it would be dealt in the CCEA. But now, by excluding the Planning Commission’s representation in the CCEA, the government has “virtually sealed the fate of UIDAI,” sources said.  

Even home minister Rajnath Singh, though indirectly, had hinted at ending the role of UIDAI earlier this week when he asked for the long-pending proposal for issuance of national identity cards to be brought for “approval at the earliest.”

The Union home ministry, is an official statement had said, “The home minister directed that effective steps be taken to take the project to its logical conclusion, which is the creation of the national register of Indian citizens. He instructed that all necessary proposals, including updating the database through linkages with birth and death registration system, and the issuance of national identity cards to citizens be brought for approval at the earliest.”

5592 - On table: Aadhaar for citizens, not residents - Telegraph India

On table: Aadhaar for citizens, not residents

NISHIT DHOLABHAI

Rajnath Singh 

New Delhi, June 18: Aadhaar numbers and cards will be issued only to Indian citizens and not “usual residents”, the government today proposed in a departure from the UPA’s policy.

The proposal was made at a meeting chaired by Union home minister Rajnath Singh and attended by the registrar-general of citizenship registration, C. Chandramouli.

The new policy will necessitate changes to a cabinet decision taken by the UPA, besides clearing confusion over the fate of the Aadhaar cards that are issued to residents and are not proof of citizenship.

Sources said it might take over a month for the proposal to be fleshed out and placed before the cabinet.

Over 60 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to “usual residents” — those who have stayed in a locality for at least six months and intend to do so for another six months.

The unique numbers will remain in place.

However, if the cabinet clears the proposal, the numbered residents will be issued citizen cards only on the basis of additional death and birth registration data.

Today’s decision would limit the UIDAI’s role to generating the unique numbers and conducting a de-duplication exercise to weed out individuals getting more than one number. The UIDAI eventually may not hold camps to issue Aadhaar cards if Singh’s decision is ratified by the cabinet.

The UPA government’s plan was to derive the subset of citizens from the National Population Register (NPR) after verification of citizenship. However, the NDA government feels that there should be a single exercise leading to a national register of Indian citizens.

Singh said effective steps should be taken to create the national register of citizens, an official release said.

He instructed officials that all proposals, including update of the database through linkages with the birth and death registration system and the issuance of national identity cards to citizens, be brought for approval at the earliest, sources said.

Over the next month, the Registrar-General of India is expected to prepare a roadmap to issue citizenship cards. “The Centre feels unique numbers and cards should be issued only to citizens and there is no need for two types of cards,” a source said.

Since 2010, numbers and cards were issued after collection of biometric data (iris scan and fingerprinting) by two authorities: the RGI’s office under the National Population Register scheme and the Nandan Nilekani-led UIDAI. Nilekani, who was the face of the UPA’s Aadhaar programme, resigned as UIDAI chairman on March 13 before contesting on a Congress ticket from Bangalore. He lost the election.

The Aadhaar numbers were aimed at improving the use and implementation of benefits and services provided under government schemes, planning and security.

There was some confusion when the UPA decided to allow two agencies to collect data of residents. The UIDAI collected biometric data and issued Aadhaar cards while the NPR also gathered the data. P. Chidambaram and Nilekani had run-ins over which agency would enrol residents.

Plans of the previous government to legislate the UIDAI virtually stand scrapped after today’s meeting.

Getting an Aadhaar card from the UIDAI was optional but enrolment under the National Population Register scheme is mandatory under Citizenship Rules. Often, residents were confused whether they needed to go to an “NPR camp” if they had been to an “Aadhaar camp”. They will have to, according to rules.

The resident is required to visit a National Population Register camp with the unique Aadhaar number, provide additional personal information and undergo verification for registration in the population.

“The enrolment will now be done completely under the National Register of Indian Citizens by the RGI’s office,” said a source.

5582 - NSA allegedly using Aadhaar to spy on India - Biometric Update

NSA allegedly using Aadhaar to spy on India

By Rawlson King

June 12, 2014 - 

India’s new Bharatiya Janata Party government has come under pressure to scrap Aadhaar, the program which aims to enroll all of the country’s residents through biometrics.

The Left Front, an alliance of Indian left-wing parties which includes Communists, has alleged that the country’s biometric database, which is used to provide social services and reduce welfare fraud, has been utilized for foreign espionage.

In a scathing letter to incoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Communist Party of India argues that the United States has been using an information exchange agreement to obtain biometric data about Indian citizens.  The letter asks the new government to order an inquiry into the alleged information sharing arrangement.

The letter alleges biometric data collected in India was given to the National Security Agency (NSA) in the U.S. and that there is “widespread apprehension” within India’s national security establishment about the security of data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the production of Aadhaar cards.

Aadhaar currently has combined enrollment of approximately 850 million people, with 630 million Aadhaar numbers now reportedly generated. The previous Congress Party government introduced the program in order to distribute 12-digit identity cards to provide better access to social programs.

The Communists state in their letter that the country’s Intelligence Bureau warned the government in 2012 about security concerns arising from the use of foreign vendors on the Aadhaar project.

The letter notes: “UIDAI engages private companies, both Indian and foreign, for collecting biometric data including iris scan and fingerprints. These foreign vendors collect and store the biometric data of our people.  But the government didn’t heed to the concern expressed by the IB. Now the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has revealed that U.S. intelligence was collecting biometric data of people from many countries including India. Apart from the security, this is a gross violation of the privacy of our people.

The letter continues: “For ensuring the privacy of the people and security of our country, an urgent relook on the UIDAI project is essential. The government must ensure that the data already collected are not shared with foreign spy agencies. The Aadhaar project, which does not have the backing of law must be scrapped.”

After receipt of the letter, Prime Minister Modi announced that the standing cabinet committee that examines decisions concerning the UIDAI would be scrapped in an effort for “more governance” and “less government”.  The national government now led by Modi notes that on a go-forward basis, Aadhaar issues will now be handled by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, the Aadhaar project was sharply criticized by the Bharatiya Janata Party during the recent election campaign as a fraudulent scheme devised to financially benefit Congress politicians.  The BJP in the past has characterized the biometric system as a “political gimmick” and has questioned whether the system adequately addresses control of migrants and national security concerns.

Most recently, the Aadhaar system has run into major problems with private companies that enroll Indian citizens into the program. Private businesses that are engaged in Aadhaar enrollment are protesting the high penalties being levied on them by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), due to enrollment errors. In response, the Aadhaar Enrollment Agencies Association (AEAA), the lobby group representing the businesses has warned that they will be forced to stop work across the country and seek legal action to address rising fines.

The system has also encountered a serious number of problems including Indian banks that are resisting processing Aadhaar subsidies and India’s Supreme Court ruling that Aadhaar numbers are not mandatory for receiving government services.

India’s new home minister Rajnath Singh was scheduled to examine new policy options to address the Aadhaar system this week.