The digital ID that revolutionized the country’s social development programmes- Aadhaar is going to get statutory power as the government is introducing a bill in the Lok Sabha. Among the different legislations that are proposed in the new budget, the Aadhaar bill gets the first preference and interestingly it has been presented as a money bill. It has been done so to avoid the obstruntist opposition who has a majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Statutory recognition to Aadhaar will give it more recognition especially after the Supreme Court has limited its mandatory requirement to selected social sector programme.
With the passage of the bill Aadhaar will emerge as a mandatory identity for a large number of government- to citizen engagements. Delivery of future public programmes, identification exercises etc will be made on the bases of the biometric Aaadhaar.
An important field in which the Aadhaar is going to have a transformational impact is digital cash transfer and payment systems. Already, the Payment Corporation is thinking about making an id proof for online transactions to enhance safety.
A brief summary of the bill gives the purpose for its introduction – the bill aims 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..”
It is expected that the bill properly address some of the privacy concerns that have been constantly raised against it. Critical information about individuals in the public domain should be protected to block its misuse as well.
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