The following text was taken from the Human Development chapter [pdf] of the Union Budget & Economic Survey 2011-2012. The 2012-13 edition is due to be released tomorrow. It will be interesting to note any changes in the treatment of UID.
Implementation of the Unique Identification (UID) project has progressed and about 13 crore Aadhaar numbers (UID numbers) have already been generated. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has scaled up enrolments and has also established infrastructure capabilities to generate 10 lakh Aadhaar numbers every day. The UIDAI is on the verge of commencing Phase III of the scheme, which apart from enrolling residents and issuing Aadhaar numbers extends to providing updation services, a robust authentication process as a means of enhancing service delivery of various social schemes, and facilitating financial inclusion and development of Aadhaar-enabled applications to leverage Aadhaar.
The UIDAI has commenced interaction with Ministries/Departments for developing applications leveraging the Aadhaar number, Aadhaar-enabled transactions and infrastructure to improve the service delivery of various social-sector schemes.
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has notified that Aadhaar shall be treated as a valid proof of identity (PoI) and proof of address (PoA) after confirming identity and address through the Aadhaar authentication procedure.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare has decided to recognize UID numbers (Aadhaar) as Pol and PoA for extending financial assistance to BPL patients who are suffering from major life threatening diseases and receiving medical treatment at any of the super specialty hospitals/ institutes or other government hospitals under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi (RAN).
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued necessary instructions for recognition of Aadhaar as PoI/ PoA for evidence of age and address for issuing a driving licence and for registration of vehicles.
The Department of Expenditure has issued instructions for the revision of the format for submission of proposals for approval of the Expenditure Finance Committee wherein the linkage of the beneficiary identification mechanism with the Aadhaar number is to be indicated. The Aadhaar number has been recognized as valid PoI/PoA for obtaining new LPG connections.
The state governments of Sikkim, Tripura, and Andhra Pradesh have also declared the Aadhaar number valid Pol and PoA for their various schemes. Karnataka has also drawn up a plan for implementation of the Aadhaar project and also for the Karnataka Resident Data Hub for integration of the Aadhaar number with various services.
An Aadhaar Payments Bridge has been designed and is being tested on pilot basis for MGNREGA payments in Jharkhand. The Aadhaar Payments Bridge will enable the transfer of funds directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries on the basis of the Aadhaar number. This will considerably simplify the process of disbursement of welfare funds by government departments.
