Unique Identification Authority of India

Why in News?

• As a special measure to enroll prison inmates across the country, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has recently agreed to accept the Prisoner Induction Document (PID) as a valid document for enrolment or update of Aadhaar.

Highlights

• The UIDAI is a statutory authority established on 12th July 2016 by the Government of India under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, following the provisions of the Aadhaar Act 2016.
• The UIDAI was Initially set up by the Government of India in January 2009, as an attached office under the aegis of the Planning Commission.
• The UIDAI Is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (Aadhaar) to all the residents of India.
• The overall Aadhaar saturation level in the country has crossed 93%, and in the case of the adult population it is nearly 100%
• Aadhaar number is verifiable in an online, cost-effective way.
• It is unique and robust enough to eliminate duplicates and fake identities and thus used as a basis/primary identifier to roll out several Government welfare schemes thereby promoting transparency and good governance
• Many private entities in the country insist on an Aadhaar card, and users often share the details.
• There’s no clarity on how these entities keep these data private and secure.
• More recently with Covid-19 testing, many would have noticed that most labs insist on Aadhaar card data, including a photocopy.
• It should be noted that It is not mandatory to share this for getting a Covid-19 test done