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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | UIDAI Bill unlikely to be tabled in budget session by Devika Banerji

UIDAI Bill unlikely to be tabled in budget session by Devika Banerji

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published Published on Mar 6, 2012   modified Modified on Mar 6, 2012

The Bill governing the unique identity project is unlikely to be introduced in the budget session of parliament, as the Planning Commission needs more time to finalise its revised version. 

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) Bill, which aims to give legal status to the collection of biometric data and issue of unique identification numbers to all resident Indians, was rejected by a parliamentary committee last year. 

"There are many issues that need to be worked out in the current Bill. We are discussing it with ministries and other stakeholders. It is not going to come up in the budget session," a Planning Commission official said. The parliament's budget session begins on March 12. 

This implies that the UIDAI, the body tasked with issuing a unique 12-digit 'Aadhaar' number, will continue to function with executive powers, rather than legislative authority, even three years after it was set up. 

It will also delay the rollout of the government's plan to directly transfer subsides and payments under welfare schemes through unique identity-linked payment getaways. 

The UIDAI, led by former Infosys chief Nandan Nilekani, has the mandate to collect data and issue 'Aadhaar' numbers, which can help people open bank accounts, buy cell phones and access welfare programmes. 

In December, the Bill was rejected by the Yashwant Sinha-headed Standing Committee on Finance, which said the project lacked proper groundwork, cost dynamics were not justified, and that similar attempts by other countries had not been successful. 

While lack of legal status may not hamper the authority's functioning in the short term, it makes it vulnerable to political and financial uncertainties. 

The Planning Commission is currently also holding talks with other government ministries and departments to reach a consensus on the redrafting of the Bill. 

Some ministries say the Bill requires a lot of work before it can be tabled in parliament. "We will have to satisfy the objections raised by the standing committee. The changes in the Bill will definitely take more time than anticipated," said an official in the rural development ministry. "Right now, there is no consensus between various ministries," the official added. 

Over the past one year, the UID project has been embroiled in a turf war with the Registrar General of India (RGI), which is under the home ministry, regarding the overlapping mandates of the authority and the RGI. 

The cabinet committee on UIDAI had, however, called truce by allowing UIDAI to go ahead with enrollments, while asking the RGI to accept the authority's data for its National Population Register.


The Economic Times, 6 March, 2012, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/uidai-bill-unlikely-to-be-tabled-in-budget-session/articleshow/12155246.cms


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