No poor shall be deprived of benefits for want of Aadhaar: Prasad

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said no poor person shall be deprived of welfare measures just because he or she does not have an Aadhaar card, adding that the Centre has issued directives to all state governments in this regard.

The remarks of the Union Minister of Electronics and Information Technology came in the wake of recent reports of deaths because of starvation, as the deceased reportedly did not receive ration for months due to non-linkage of their ration card with Aadhaar.

Talking about privacy concerns of Aadhaar, Prasad told reporters that Aadhaar card were safely encrypted and there was nothing to worry about the privacy of data.

"Law is tough. Aadhaar is governed by laws passed by Parliament and any violator would face strict punishment, ranging up to fine of Rs 10 Lakh or even seven-year imprisonment," he said.

Prasad also said that to date, 32 crore bank accounts had been linked to Aadhaar.

--IANS

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