Apex court extends Aadhaar linking deadline to March 31
Apex court extends Aadhaar linking deadline to March 31: But existing Aadhaar holders will have to furnish number while opening a bank a/c
Multi-purpose Single Index Number
The piecemeal introduction of additional requirements for carrying out normal financial transactions or availing services make citizens averse to innovations and helps middlemen make an easy buck for providing 'services' which in the normal course should come free. The breathing time until end March 2018 should be used to rationalize and reorganize identity needs of all citizens for all purposes.
Aadhaar, from the time the idea of "Universal Identity" has suffered from the absence of a 'project approach' in implementation. Politicians, Professionals, GOI, media and social activists have contributed in equal measure in confounding the confusion that was the twin-brother of Aadhaar. Now that the Supreme Court has allowed some time, GOI should professionalize further processes in the implementation of Aadhaar and bring more transparency to reduce suspicion in the minds of citizens.
All-purpose single identity number for each individual is a still better idea for future. That will solve number portability issues and minimize the irritants like problems arising from spelling changes in names, addresses etc caused by outsourced service providers who manage compilation and processing of data. The present Aadhaar Number should be converted in due course into a basic Single Identity Number for all citizens. With Alpha-numerical prefixes/suffixes the same number should be used for allotting account numbers by banks, issue of documents like passport, Permanent Account Number (Income Tax), driving license, Election Identity Card and so on. Such an arrangement will reduce later confusion and need to verify Aadhaar-linking at different levels by different authorities, besides infusing credibility for Aadhaar.
M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram
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