Finally on Wednesday the lower house gave green signal to the Aadhaar Bill, which aimed at better targeting of subsides through the Aadhar Unique Identity number.
Notably, the bill became the main reason behind the heated debate in Rajya Sabha involving opposition members, especially the congress member Jairam Ramesh.
As now Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha, here are the salient features of Bill that you should know:
- For anyone who wants to get an Aadhaar number needs to submit following details :
- Biometric Details (Iris scan , photograph, finger print)
- Demographic Details( name, date of birth and address)
- It will be used to verify the identity of the person receiving the subsidy
- Any public or private entity can accept Aadhaar number as a proof. However, the number is not a proof of citizenship
- UID is not allowed to share individual’s information such as Iris scan, it will only be used for Aadhaar
- There will be exception too for sharing information, As per section 33 of the Bill. Information could be released in two cases
- On the national security interest
- On the order of the court
- A person can punished upto 3 years with the compensation of Rs. 10 lakh for unauthorized access to the centralized Data- base
- Why it was important?
It was important to pass the bill because Supreme Court last year in October issued an interim order stating Aadhaar number cannot be mandatory for availing the benefits of subsidy, and it is purely voluntary and it cannot be made mandatory, until it is finally decided by the court.
