-The Indian Express Union government must address structural issues in agricultural policy, allow states greater autonomy. Farmers from across the country are out on Delhi’s streets agitating just as the deliberations for the 2018 budget are beginning and it’s time to seek solutions to the structural issues that plague the system. The “one-size-fits-all” policy created for the farm sector is self-destructive in design and programmes meant to double farmer incomes are collapsing. The...

-The Indian Express In Jharkhand, ABBA was first made compulsory for PDS users in Ranchi district in August 2016. By June 2017, it was mandatory in about 80 per cent of the ration shops across the state. This meant, of course, that Aadhaar itself was compulsory — no Aadhaar, no food. Recent events in Jharkhand shed some useful light on the damage done by compulsory biometric authentication in the Public Distribution...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) said on Monday that Aadhaar Data is completely safe and secure. Aadhaar number, it said, is not a secret number and it is to be shared with authorised agencies if one wishes to avail a certain service or benefit of government welfare schemes or other services. "Aadhaar Data is fully safe and secure and there has been no Data leak or breach at...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The UIDAI has provided some "relaxation" to banks in procurement of enrolment machines and hiring private Data entry operators for their Aadhaar centres, and hopes that banks will offer such services at stipulated 10% of the branches "at the earliest", its CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey has said. The Aadhaar-issuing body, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has allowed banks to hire private Data entry operators and enrolment machines and...

-PTI NEW DELHI: More than 200 central and state government websites publicly displayed details such as names and addresses of some Aadhaar beneficiaries, the Unique Identification Authority of India has said. The Aadhaar issuing body added, in response to an RTI query, that it took note of the breach and got the Data removed from those websites. It did not specify when the breach took place. It said Aadhaar details have never been made...