Aadhaar bill introduced in LS, personal info to be kept discreet

A Bill to provide Aadhaar statutory backing for use for transferring government subsidies and benefits was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday, incorporating clauses to keep personal information discreet and it not being a proof of citizenship. 

The Congress, Left, Trinamool and Biju Janata Dal opposed the introduction of Bill as Money Bill.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced ‘The Aadhaar (Target Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016’ amid protests by Congress over the legislation being categorised as a money bill which does not need approval of the Rajya Sabha.

Jaitley, however, asserted that the Bill falls within the textbook definition of money bill and went on to remind the Congress of bills like juvenile justice and workman injury compensation it brought as money bill when it was in power. He also said the Bill addresses concerns over privacy of Aadhaar data and the unique identification number being used as certificate of citizenship.

Clause 9 of the Bill states that the Aadhaar number or the authentication thereof shall not, by itself, confer any right of, or be proof of, citizenship or domicile.

The bill will provide for “good governance, efficient, transparent, and targeted delivery of subsidies, benefits and services, the expenditure for which is incurred from the Consolidated Fund of India, to individuals residing in India through assigning of unique identity numbers to such individuals”, a brief summary of the bill said.

Giving statutory backing to Aadhaar will enable the use of this identification number for better targeting of subsidies.