New Delhi: In a major reprieve for the government, the Supreme Court on Thursday allowed use of Aadhaar cards also for MNREGA, Jan Dhan Yojana, pension and provident fund schemes. It had earlier restricted its use to public distribution system and LPG subsidy, compelling the government to rush to the court seeking a permission to use Aadhaar for more services.
Today’s order is seen as a relief to the government which has been trying to persuade the Supreme Court to extend Aadhaar’s uses after a slew of blows to the unique identity or UID programme following privacy petitions. After today’s order, the Aadhaar card can be used to for availing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act, Jan-Dhan Yojana, provident funds and pension schemes among other services.
The Centre, Reserve Bank of India, stock market watchdog SEBI, telecom regulator TRAI, and a number of states had moved the Supreme Court for extending the voluntary use of Aadhaar card to other services. The government’s ambitious UID scheme has been challenged in court over privacy concerns since it uses biometric data like fingerprint and iris scans.
The court has already referred a related debate over whether privacy is a fundamental right to a constitution bench. Representing petitioners Justice KS Puttaswamy and an NGO, Nagarik Chetna Manch, lawyer Shyam Diwan argued that Right to Privacy, whether it is for the poor or the illiterate, is “sacrosanct and can’t be compromised”.
Bureau Report
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