Unique Identification Number (UID) issued by the Union Home Ministry has been made mandatory for holding possession of guns or other arms, the Revenue Department has informed.
The direction was issued after it was noticed that many arms owners in the district with old weapons licence were yet to take UID. UID was introduced to avert illegal possession of arms and to create a single database, the National Database of Arms Licence (N-DAL), for all arms licences from across the country. The old arms licencees in the district had been given time till December 31, 2017, for taking UID. Following lukewarm response, it was further extended to March 31, 2018. UID had been issued to only those who had renewed the licence during the said period and the licence of the rest will not be renewed.
Instead, they will now have to take fresh licence, which is a long drawn-out process, including securing of reports from tahsildars concerned and the district police chief. At present, there are about 1,700 arms licencees with UID in the district.
The process of drawing up a list of remaining weapon owners who were yet to renew their licences is progressing in taluk offices. Notices have been sent to licencees to ascertain whether the licence could not be renewed or whether they no longer needed it.
For more details about the UID-based system, log on to ndal-alis.gov.in or contact M Section at the collectorate.
