The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was introduced by the Indian government it is a type of organization to manage and handle the Aadhaar program. Aadhaar is a form of card that provides a unique identification number to every resident and citizen of India. It links people with their demographic and biometric data.
It’s a method introduced by the government of India to identify the identity of every single citizen in the nation.
The initiative UIDAI was introduced in 2009 with the aim and priority of offering a unique identification number to each individual and citizen of the country. It is established to prevent and remove fake or duplicate identities of residents and to offer several government subsidies and services for the people of India.
A PAN (Tax Identification Number) or a driver’s license was once the accepted form of identification in India; however, PANs are not issued to children or housewives, and they are the least valuable documents when it comes to taxes. The truth is that hardly many individuals fall for this scheme. However, since those who do not own a car do not own a driver’s license, there was no national standard management number.
To maximize tax revenue, the Indian government produced the “Aadhaar Card,” a number that might be used to monitor all 1.3 billion citizens at once.
The government has given a firm the task of handling the registration procedure; after verifying your identity and proof of address, the company scans your iris, fingerprints, and face picture before issuing the card.
By the end of June, taxpayer identity numbers and national IDs “Aadhaar” must be linked
The Indian Ministry of Finance declared on March 28 that by the last day of June, citizens must link their Aadhaar ID to their PAN, or taxpayer identification number. Taxpayers who are not registered to their PAN will no longer be allowed to use it from July 1st, and they may experience negative effects like a higher withholding tax rate and a delay of their tax refunds.
Nonetheless, the following are ineligible: (1) citizens of the Union Territories of Assam, Meghalaya, and Jammu and Kashmir; (2) non-residents within the income legislation; (3) those who were 80 years of age or more as of the year before; and (4) non-Indian nationals.
Since the announcement in July 2017 that they must be linked, over 510 million people have finished the process. 94% of all applicants were linked to Aadhaar, based on the 541.54 million PANs that have been granted to citizens as of the end of March. The final date for connecting both parties has been delayed several times up to this point, and it has been extended again this time around. The original deadline was set for the end of March.
The government has started providing domestic citizens with a 12-digit national ID known as “Aadhaar” since September 2010.
Aadhaar saves fingerprint data in addition to personal data like name, date of birth, and gender. It is utilized in a variety of contexts, including enrollment in schools, passport and driver’s license issuance, and payments in cash throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The Unique Identification Number Authority of India (UIDAI) reports that, as of the last day of November 2022, 1,351.07 million people had received their Aadhaar.
Considering the process of linking Aadhaar and PAN, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) states that there are instances in which an individual’s name and date of birth are not correct, even for the same individual, or where every single registered contact’s phone number is different.
There have been accounts of situations where the ship experienced problems. Before this final connection deadline extension, UIDAI stated that the cost of changing Aadhaar registration data online would be eliminated for a short three-month period, from March 15 to June 14. Attempts are being made to deal with these problems.
The core of Indian citizenship is Aadhaar (UIDAI)
Aadhaar is a national identity numbering system that provides each citizen with a 12-digit number and a unique ID. It is optional to register. In Hindi, the word Aadhaar means “foundation”. This word makes it clear that Aadhaar is the cornerstone of Indian society. Its use of biometric authentication, which fully utilizes cutting-edge IT technology, is a key feature. It turns every citizen’s face, all of their fingerprints from both hands, and their iris scans into data and uses it to verify them in addition to their name, address, gender, and birthdate. 1.16 billion people, or more than 99% of India’s population, are said to have enrolled.
What Advantages does Aadhaar (UIDAI) offer?
Many individuals use Aadhar registration, even though it is optional. This is due to the lack of a family registration system in India until now, which makes identity verification challenging. Though it is difficult, India has suffered several negative consequences from the absence of a family registration system. For instance, the government sent food and fertilizer to the underprivileged as well as other social programs, but because there was no identification verification procedure in place, fraudulent receivers engaged in acts of fraud and identity theft on a large scale.
There were a lot of instances where assistance was lacking. You are also unable to transmit money, create a bank account, or buy a cell phone as there is no method to verify your identification. People found it harder to engage in economic activity as a result, which led to a terrible circle that prevented them from getting free from poverty. Nonetheless, residents’ lives improved in several ways after their personal information was digitalized and registered in Aadhaar.
For Example:
- To guarantee the timely payment of welfare and education benefits that the government has disregarded (food rations, assistance for disaster funds, scholarships, etc.)
- Preventing fraud helped the government save about $7 billion.
- It’s simple to register for administrative services even if you can’t read or write.
- Getting into school will be simpler for you when your credit score rises.
- It’s simple and quick to finance, remit, and create a bank account → It’s simple to launch a business.
- Payments via mobile devices will be possible.
- 79% of people use a mobile phone, which is double the amount that was used previously.
- A 27% rise in the proportion of women utilizing financial institutions indicates a boost in women’s economic activity and a consequent rise in status.
Thus, it is evident that Aadhaar improves people’s lives across all sectors, not only the impoverished, and has positive effects on education, welfare, and the economy. The project began with the intention of helping the underprivileged, but it already offers a wide range of private services, such as over 100 administrative services involving tax return filing, SIM card purchases, bank transactions, land purchases, and online ticket purchases.
The service requires an Aadhaar ID. An ID is a must for anyone staying in India for an extended length of time to conduct business or study since it can be obtained by foreigners as well if they have been residents for a total of 182 days.
At its most active, Aadhaar registration could handle up to two million registrations every day. It is necessary to process information quickly. Additionally, highly advanced technological abilities are needed for operation, security to safeguard personal information, and excellent accuracy to avoid fraud and double registration are also crucial. As a result, the system created by NEC, which is well-known for its technological skills, was adopted by the Indian government.
Since NEC has been studying fingerprint authentication for over fifty years, its attempts in biometric authentication technology are actually not that new. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) evaluated facial recognition and fingerprint identification technologies and found that facial recognition had the greatest matching efficiency in the world. Since then, over 70 nations have deployed 700 systems. In fact, fifty airports worldwide use NEC’s biometric authentication system.
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) Eligibility
The eligibility for the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is as follows:
- Individuals must be a citizen and residents of India to get registered for Aadhar.
- The person must be living in the country for 182 days or more to be eligible it can be a local or foreigner.
- There is no age restriction or limitation for citizens of India in order to be eligible for Adhaar. From adults, kids, and elders anyone can get registration for the initiative.
- Even infants can also apply for it, their guardians and parents can enroll for them.
- Candidates can need documents and identity proof, as it is very essential and mandatory. The common documents needed are voter ID, passport, driving license, utility bills, and ration card.
- Non-residents of India are strictly not allowed to apply for Aadhaar they are ineligible.