Aadhaar can be used to integrate data for better results: Anant

SC declined to relax its order to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar for some welfare schemes at this stage

Aadhaar can be used as a common link among the people of the country to integrate administrative data to understand the actual position on the ground, Chief Statistician T C A Anant has said.

"You have silos of administrative information. How do you get usable data out of it. One mechanism can be if all of them have common variable on which they can be integrated. It can be Aadhaar," Anant told reporter here at a conference.

The statement is significant in view of nationwide public discourse on whether the unique identification number Aadhaar should be used by the government, banks, financial institutions and private players to deliver services and benefits.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court today declined to relax its order to allow voluntary use of Aadhaar for some welfare schemes at this stage.

It had earlier allowed the government to use it for public distribution system and cooking gas.

Anant said, "Surveys are extraordinarily expensive. Given the demand for data... Individual administrative data can be integrated and strengthened through devices like Aadhaar.

"They have very important consequence to world of measurement and our ability to understand reality better. They enable better delivery of policy and better understanding of the world."

According to the information available on the website of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), 92.23 crore Aadhaar number have been issued so far.

The UIDAI, which has been entrusted to issue Aadhaar to entire population of the country, is working on completing its task by December-end.

"If Aadhaar is seeded with entire populations' bank and provident fund accounts, PAN, driving licence, voter ID card, cooking gas and electricity accounts and services like credit card, then the government would save a lot on collecting data and get quality information on real time basis," a senior government official said.

He added: "The availability of this data would help government in gauging actual situation on the ground and thus help in implementing right policies well in time to achieve the desired results.