UIDAI

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is the agency of the Government of India that is responsible for implementing Aadhaar scheme. The UIDAI was formed under the Planning Commission by an executive order issued in January 2009. The agency was established in February 2009, and owns and operates the Unique Identification Number database. The agency provides a unique identification number to all persons residing in India without identity cards. Nandan Nilekani was appointed as the first Chairman of the authority in June. The Central Government has been unable to secure statutory approval for the authority after the National Identification Authority of India Bill 2010 was rejected by the Parliamentary Standing Committee as “unethical and violative of Parliament prerogatives”. On receiving a ‘go-ahead’ from the new government, UIDAI is planning to launch a media campaign to trigger up the enrolment process and to weed out misconceptions about the project. Aadhaar, an identification number for residents is widely perceived as an identity card legitimizing citizenship of the country. Till date more than 71.62 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated.

Table of Contents

Budget allocated to UIDAI

About Rs. 35 billion (Rs. 3,500 crore) was spent on Aadhaar program from the beginning (January-2009) till September 2013 with enrollment of 50 crore (500 million) persons. It includes operating costs as well as capital expenditure (infrastructure of land, building, and machinery). Newly elected government under prime minister Narendra Modi in union budget has allocated Rs. 2039.64 crore for the fiscal year 2014-15 for the functioning of UIDAI and to enroll remaining population and has set a target of 100 crore enrollment at the ‘earliest’. Aadhaar enrolment crossed the 75.66 crore mark (756.6 million) in February 7, 2015.

Scheme related to Aadhar

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana: In the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, envisaged for financial inclusion of the entire population, main features of allotting an overdraft of Rs 5,000 and accident insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh is proposed to be limited to Aadhaar linked bank accounts. This will help avoiding duplication and restrict household availing the facility through multiple bank accounts.
Biometric attendance systems: In a move to ensure punctuality and to check absenteeism among government employees, the government has decided to install Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance systems (AEBAS) in all central government offices.
Digital India Programme: The Digital India programme envisaged to provide digital identity, real-time online transaction platform and digitalization of government documents and records of all the citizens to make them available on real-time basis to avail government services will be based on Aadhaar.

States currently covered under the project

Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu & Kashmir
Karnataka
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Uttar Pradesh
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Telangana
Tripura
West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Uttarakhand
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Lakshadweep

Some other facts

A 12-digit unique identity for every Indian individual, including children and infants
Enables identification for every resident Indian
Establishes uniqueness of every individual on the basis of demographic and biometric information
It is a voluntary service that every resident can avail irrespective of present documentation
Each individual will be given a single unique Aadhaar ID number
Aadhaar will provide a universal identity infrastructure which can be used by any identity-based application (like ration card, passport, etc.)
UIDAI will give Yes/No answers to any identity authentication

Download as PDF

Read previous article: « NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India)

« Back to banking material page