SC questions government on making Aadhaar card mandatory for several schemes, services
The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the government on its move to make the Aadhaar Card mandatory for several government-funded schemes and other services, ANI said.
In a move to make the Aadhaar Card a universal identity proof, the government has been widening its requirement to avail several schemes and services, including, opening a bank account, filing income tax returns, getting a driver’s licence, availing a new mobile connection, and more, thereby going against a previous SC order.
The decisions of the government have met with severe criticism from various sectors of the industry and the general public, with most concerns pertaining to the government’s capabilities of keeping users’ personal and biometric data safe.
Explaining the government’s intention behind the decisions, the Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Supreme Court, “We found a number of PAN Cards being used to divert funds to shell companies, to prevent it the only option is to make Aadhaar card mandatory,” ANI said.
In its last order, the apex court had said that the Aadhaar card shouldn’t mandatory for availing government schemes. The Aadhaar card was developed and introduced by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to help the government plug leakages in transferring …read more