What is Aadhaar?
Aadhaar is a 12 digit number which works as an identity for everyone residing within the country supplying the details about the identity and the proof of the resident.
It is an individual identification number. The Government of India authorises the Unique Identification Authority of India to issue the Aadhaar or the unique identity number.
Any people who lives in India and gets himself registered under the Aadhaar get his/her Aadhaar card via Indian Post. A person can also download an E-Aadhaar from the Unique Identification Authority of India portal. Aadhaar card procured from both these sources are equally valid.
For the residents of India, registering for Aadhaar is free of cost and any person of any age or sex can get the Aadhaar card by following the procedure as prescribed by the Unique Identification Authority of India.
If a person is registered under the Aadhaar, he cannot apply for re-registration and if he does so, the previous Aadhaar card will be considered as the duplicate of the original one.
Getting enrolled with Aadhaar favours an individual in getting various benefits of the social and banking schemes of the government. Once an individual gets a unique 12 digit number, it will go on for a lifetime. Unique information is of an individual is present in demographic and biometric form like fingerprint and iris scan.
This single card has a universal identification that is the 12 digit unique number will serve as identity mark for getting ration card or passport etc. It also works as an address proof. It also serve as a document for providing KYC (know your customer) to various organizations.
One can get enrolled himself by supplying the required information at the Aadhaar Center. Registering with Aadhaar is voluntary. A person will get the privileges even when he is without an Aadhaar card.
Aadhaar Card Registration Process
One needs to follow various steps for getting himself registered under the Aadhaar Card. The process had been simplified but there are few steps which an individual shall have to follow for getting an Aadhaar card. The steps are as follows:
#1: Search a nearby enrollment center.
#2: Book an appointment at the enrollment center.
#3: Be present at the enrollment center on the appointment day.
#4: The individual is required to fill the enrollment form. The form could either be filled manually or online.
#5: Along with the enrollment from, a person needs to supply an identity proof and an address proof.
#6: The documents will go for approval and the individual shall need to provide biometric data which include fingerprint impression and iris scan along with other documents.
#7: A photograph of an individual shall be captured and will be kept as a record.
#8: After going through all the steps, the individual should collect an acknowledgement slip of his enrollment. This slip shall contain the 14 digit unique enrollment number which will assist an individual to check his enrollment status of his application.
Once all the steps are completed, the Indian Postal shall send the Aadhaar card via post. Today an individual can also download e-Aadhaar card.
e-Aadhaar Card Downloading Steps
#1: Visit the e-Aadhaar website.
#2: Choose either the Aadhaar number or the enrollment ID.
#3: Supply the necessary details like name, phone number, pin code etc along with the enrollment number of the enrollment ID.
#4: The individual shall have to choose the OTP option that is one time password option and will receive the OTP on the registered mobile number.
#5: Enter the received OTP in the space provided for the same and click on the validate and download option.
#6: The Aadhaar card will be downloaded in the respective devices.
Why Aadhaar Card?
Universality: The Aadhaar has universal application. Once a person gets an Aadhaar card, it will work as an ID card throughout the lifetime. The country across all service providers will accept this.
Insure Trust: The Aadhaar card will ensure trust between the public and the private agencies and residence. When an individual is enrolled under Aadhaar, the authorities will not repeat the procedure of KYC checks for providing the services. The authorises will have trust on the residents, and with this, they will not deny to provided services to the customers even without checking other documents.
Replace other documents: The Aadhaar is meant to replace multiple documents that were needed previously. The Aadhaar will help a person to get a passport, sim cards, bank accounts, driving license, etc.
Mobility to migrants: The Aadhaar provides proof of identity with a centralized technology system of the UIDAI will enable anywhere, anytime, and anyhow authentication, and this gives mobility of migrants.
Verify identity remotely: The authentication of identity under Aadhaar could be done by both online and offline mode with the help of an internet connection. The online method provides to verify the identities of an individual remotely.
Same Flexibility: The Aadhaar gives poor and rural residents the same flexibility that urban non-poor residents enjoy to verify their identity and access services such as banking.
Strong document verification: Since the beginning of the enrollment process, the data which is collected is strictly verified to stop duplication. This makes the process of enrollment corruption free as the system of checks is active from the starting. An individual needs to supply information in biometric, which is enrolled into a database with proper authentication.
Introducer: The Aadhaar comes with an advantage to those who do not possess proper information about their identities. The rural or the poor may not have appropriate documents for getting Aadhaar, with the system of introducers; a person who is already registered under the Aadhaar can introduce those who lack documentation.
Benefits of Aadhaar Card
#1. Identity Card: Aadhaar is a single identity card needed for availing the services. This has removed the complex process of documentation.
#2. Income Tax: Verifying the filed returns have become accessible since the introduction of the Aadhaar card. We can check our return by following some simple steps. This also helps an individual to cut down the documents required for manual verification. The method is cost and time savvy. An individual needs to log into the e-filing website of the Income Tax department using his PAN number. Link the same with the Aadhaar account, and here an individual can upload his Income Tax return form. While linking the Aadhaar with Income tax account, an OTP is generated that makes the entire process secure.
#3. Bank Accounts: The Aadhaar card replaces the multiple documents which were required for having a bank account. The banks do not require proof of all kinds if a person possesses an Aadhaar Card as this single rectangular card supplies the proof of identity and progress.
#4. Timely Pension: Providing n number of documents for verification every time is very difficult and time consuming for the senior citizen. By linking the Aadhaar with the Pension Schemes, the senior citizen will enjoy a timely pension every month.
#5. Online Passports: Aadhaar helps an individual to get a Passport within seven days. When a person applies online for a passport and attaches a copy of Aadhaar card, which is a proof of identity and address, will get an appointment from the Passport office within three days, and the process and dispatch will take seven days. This makes the process easy and less time-consuming.
#6. Digital Life Certificate: Aadhaar provides a digital life certificate to the pension holders, which has removed the problem of physically going to the bank and collecting a pension.
#7. Provident Fund: The Aadhaar card is linked with the provident fund account, which makes the take of disbursement of funds easy.
#8. Subsidies: Subsidies from LPG and other government subsidies can easily be transferred into an individual’s account by furnishing the Aadhaar Unique Identification Number to the Government. Every benefit of the government will easily be transferred directly to the respective bank accounts.
Limitations of Aadhaar Card
#1. Threat to Privacy: The handling of data is with the private companies, which might give the data to the foreign companies, which may lead to erosion of data and will defeat the privacy of the individual of India.
#2. Problems of Centralisation: The entire system of the Aadhaar is centralised, which might create problems of different issues for the government and people as a whole.
#3. Bank Transactions: The misuse of the bank transaction is very easy as the Aadhaar will be used in place of ATMs, debit, and credit cards. There will be an instance of forge transaction which will inflict loss on many.
#4. Difficult Usage: The population of India suffers from illiteracy, which does not understand the tricks of the Aadhaar card; therefore, they could not utilise the Aadhaar card in the full sense.
#5. Not a Proof of Citizenship: The Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship but proof of residence, and at the same time, it is used for getting essential documents like Passport.
Importance of Aadhaar
Today, Aadhaar serve as the most important proof of identity and address by the government. The Aadhaar is the holder of many important details of its owner, like fingerprint, iris details and other such information which hold an important position in an individual’s life.
The Aadhaar provide a unique identity to an individual which could be authenticated anywhere because of its universal nature. The system has reduced the bulk of work which occurred due to documentation.
The government has linked many benefit schemes with the Aadhaar card which has successfully reached to large population. Though having certain disadvantages and defects the Aadhaar is proving to be beneficial for both the government and the residents.