The Union Cabinet has cleared the National Identification Authority of India Bill, that gives legal and legislative backing to its Aadhaar numbers programme and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) that runs the programme.
The Bill, which will likely be taken up in the winter session of Parliament, is long overdue and its consideration by the cabinet may have been prompted by the Supreme Court’s observations that the Aadhaar number cannot be mandatory for government schemes.
The government wants to make Aadhaar the backbone of its direct benefits transfer programme for everything from scholarships to cooking gas subsidy.
Interestingly, the Bill was earlier rejected by the standing committee of finance headed by Yashwant Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December 2011.
Mint learns that the Bill is based on a new draft that has been shared with the standing committee, and that at least some of the panel’s suggestions have been incorporated in it, and some, rejected.
The Bill gives statutory backing to UIDAI and also defines its powers. It also seeks to protect the privacy of individuals.
According to the Bill, the total cost of the project will be Rs.12,400 crore.
The government’s Aadhaar programme has been opposed by activists for reasons ranging from misuse of data to breach of privacy, and ever since its adoption by the Congress as one of the key talking points ahead of next year’s general elections, it has attracted the ire of opposition parties as well.
UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani may contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore as a Congress candidate.
The Bill, which will likely be taken up in the winter session of Parliament, is long overdue and its consideration by the cabinet may have been prompted by the Supreme Court’s observations that the Aadhaar number cannot be mandatory for government schemes.
The government wants to make Aadhaar the backbone of its direct benefits transfer programme for everything from scholarships to cooking gas subsidy.
Interestingly, the Bill was earlier rejected by the standing committee of finance headed by Yashwant Sinha of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in December 2011.
Mint learns that the Bill is based on a new draft that has been shared with the standing committee, and that at least some of the panel’s suggestions have been incorporated in it, and some, rejected.
The Bill gives statutory backing to UIDAI and also defines its powers. It also seeks to protect the privacy of individuals.
According to the Bill, the total cost of the project will be Rs.12,400 crore.
The government’s Aadhaar programme has been opposed by activists for reasons ranging from misuse of data to breach of privacy, and ever since its adoption by the Congress as one of the key talking points ahead of next year’s general elections, it has attracted the ire of opposition parties as well.
UIDAI chairman Nandan Nilekani may contest the Lok Sabha elections from Bangalore as a Congress candidate.
Credits: livemint
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