The BJP on Tuesday said the Aadhaar card of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) does not have Parliament's approval and rejected by one of the key committees of the House.
“The Authority of India Bill, 2010, which gives sanction to this particular card was rejected by the standing committee on Finance,” said BJP vice-president Smriti Irani. The programme violated the Constitutional right to privacy, she alleged.
The inclusion of all residents in the Unique Identification number (UID) scheme would threaten the nation's security by giving illegal migrants rights of citizens, she said.
Interestingly, the scheme received praise from surprise quarters with the BJD’s Jay Panda describing it as the “only thing that the UPA government is doing right”.
Mr. Panda admitted to being a great supporter of the scheme and ‘championing’ it nationally as well as internationally.
UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani asserted that the authority would cross the target of generating 60 crore Aadhaar numbers before the deadline of 2014 in the next few months. Mr. Nilekani said 46 crore numbers had been issued so far.
“The key issue lies in meeting the expectations of an increasingly aspirational generation and to understand that aspiration is a non-linear commodity. It cannot be one way or the other; it has to be an integration of bazaar, samaj and sarkar to take India to the next level. Technology will play a key role in this, be it reaching healthcare to the villages or making PDS supplies available to people,” Mr. Nilekani said after delivering a keynote address on “India's journey to 2018” at an event organised by the Eisenhower Foundation.
Responding to criticism of the scheme, he highlighted its importance of reaching entitlements to the people. The government believed in inclusion and a large number of Indians did not have a valid identification.
“We believe in inclusion. Fundamentally, we need to shift to higher gear... We have huge demand from all across society for Aadhaar numbers. We have to make sure that the delivery model is more equitable and efficient,” he said.
