HomeMin likely to take over Aadhaar biometric data

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The home ministry is likely to move a Cabinet note asking for a takeover of the biometric data collected so far by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). If the proposal is approved, it will go for physical verification of the 640 million Aadhaar card holders to set up the National Registration of Indian Citizens and distribute national citizenship cards.

Since the new system is meant to ascertain citizenship of individuals - and not only their identity - verification of data gathered by UIDAI will have to be carried out by sending enumerators to each Aadhaar number holder to match the information against the biometrics collected.

Home ministry sources told Business Standard the pilot project, 'Multipurpose National Identity Card', undertaken during the previous National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime (1998-2004) would be used as template to build the protocols for the citizenship register programme. The project had used 19 different criteria to establish identity but these, too, would have to be looked at again to determine the proof an individual could provide for his 'citizenship'.

The NDA government will also need to approach the Supreme Court to get an order on sharing of biometric data reversed.

In an interim order in March this year, the apex court had held that UIDAI could not share biometric data with any authority or agency without the permission of individuals concerned. The previous government had appealed for relaxation in this order but failed to get any relief.

The citizenship register is also to be made a 'live register' by linking it with the birth and death registration process across the country through a tehsil-level electronic platform. According to regulations, it will require regular update of information, including citizens' addresses.

These steps, approved by Home Minister Rajnath Singh at a meeting on Thursday, will now require a series of Cabinet approvals. The ministry is expected to start work on background paperwork and modalities shortly.

At the meetings, Singh was apprised of security weaknesses in the Aadhaar enrolment process. The Intelligence Bureau's earlier concerns over safety of data and the ability of other countries to access data collected by foreign firms were also highlighted.

Home ministry officials expressed aversion to absorbing UIDAI within the home ministry, though it was understood the authority's set-up would practically grind to a standstill as the citizenship register took off. Questions still remain about what would happen to the schemes currently being undertaken on the direct benefits transfer programme and the safety of biometric and other databases already existing at different nodes involved in the Aadhaar programme.

The home ministry is not the coordinating agency for Aadhaar. During the previous government, it was driven by the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister's Office, and overseen by Rahul Gandhi's team in the Congress party.

DATA RETRIEVAL

* Home Minister Rajnath Singh has approved steps for the citizenship register plan; now, a series of Cabinet approvals will be needed

* 640mn
Aadhaar card holders who will have to be approached for physical verification

* Protocols
To be built on the template of an earlier citizenship programme undertaken during the previous NDA regime

* Hitch
The govt will need to approach the Supreme Court to get an order barring sharing of biometric data reversed