Why Aadhaar?
Aadhaar-based identification will have two unique features:
Universality,
which is ensured because Aadhaar will over time be recognised and
accepted across the country and across all service providers.
Every resident's entitlement to the number.
The
number will consequently form the basic, universal identity
infrastructure over which Registrars and Agencies across the country can
build their identity-based applications.
Unique
Identification of India (UIDAI) will build partnerships with various
Registrars across the country to enrol residents for the number. Such
Registrars may include state governments, state Public Sector Units
(PSUs), banks, telecom companies, etc. These Registrars may in turn
partner with enrolling agencies to enrol residents into Aadhaar.
Aadhaar
will ensure increased trust between public and private agencies and
residents. Once residents enrol for Aadhaar, service providers will no
longer face the problem of performing repeated Know Your Customer (KYC)
checks before providing services. They would no longer have to deny
services to residents without identification documents. Residents would
also be spared the trouble of repeatedly proving identity through
documents each time they wish to access services such as obtaining a
bank account, passport, or driving license etc.
By
providing a clear proof of identity, Aadhaar will empower poor and
underprivileged residents in accessing services such as the formal
banking system and give them the opportunity to easily avail various
other services provided by the Government and the private sector. The
centralised technology infrastructure of the UIDAI will enable 'anytime,
anywhere, anyhow' authentication. Aadhaar will thus give migrants
mobility of identity. Aadhaar authentication can be done both offline
and online, online authentication through a cell phone or land line
connection will allow residents to verify their identity remotely.
Remotely, online Aadhaar-linked identity verification will give poor and
rural residents the same flexibility that urban non-poor residents
presently have in verifying their identity and accessing services such
as banking and retail. Aadhaar will also demand proper verification
prior to enrolment, while ensuring inclusion. Existing identity
databases in India are fraught with problems of fraud and duplicate or
ghost beneficiaries. To prevent these problems from seeping into the
Aadhaar database, the UIDAI plans to enrol residents into its database
with proper verification of their demographic and biometric information.
This will ensure that the data collected is clean from the beginning of
the program. However, much of the poor and under-privileged population
lack identity documents and Aadhaar may be the first form of
identification they will have access to. The UIDAI will ensure that its
Know Your Resident (KYR) standards do not become a barrier for enrolling
the poor and has accordingly developed an Introducer system for
residents who lack documentation. Through this system, authorised
individuals ('Introducers') who already have an Aadhaar, can introduce
residents who don't have any identification documents, enabling them to
receive their Aadhaar.
