THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 December 2019 (Aadhaar, 10 years on (Indian Express))

Aadhaar, 10 years on (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Aadhaar
Mains level: Significance and limitations of Aadhaar

Context:

• From 2010, when Ranjana Sonawane received the first Aadhaar number, in less than 10 years, 95% of the adult residents in India have gotten Aadhaar.

About Aadhaar:

• For a large number of these people, Aadhaar was the first usable ID. Without Aadhaar, they found it difficult to access services.
• The latest State of Aadhaar Report (SoAR) — a study that attempts to capture the impact of Aadhaar in the real world brought out the voice of the users.
• They are satisfied with Aadhaar (92%), trust that the data is safe (90%) and feel that it has made PDS rations, MGNREGS and other social programmes more reliable (80%).

Significance of Aadhaar:

• Away from the experts, people who do not always get enough to eat are living. For them, exclusion isn’t a concept, but a lived reality.
• Nearly 50% of the people have used Aadhaar to access rations, MGNREGS, social pensions, SIM cards or bank accounts for the first time.
• 81% of Aadhaar holders say that they will provide it if they have a choice of which ID to provide.
• 61% of beneficiaries trust that Aadhaar prevents others from accessing their benefits.

Limitations of Aadhaar:

• There are some cases where authentication fails because the biometrics are defaced due to age. Supreme Court judge, Justice Srikrishna, recounted how he too had trouble in getting authenticated due to the difficulty of scanning his fingerprints.
• UIDAI has maintained that there would be individuals for whom biometric authentication does not work.
• Failure to authenticate cannot be a reason to deny any services to them and the organisation requesting the authentication must provide an exception handling mechanism in such cases.

Way ahead:

• The report indicates a need for the state to wrap the unfinished agenda of ensuring that Aadhaar works for everyone.
• Marginalised groups must be enrolled, the process to update records should be made simpler, the grievance redress systems need to be strengthened, and exclusions due to Aadhaar could be eliminated.
• Focus on improving the user experience, making it easier for everyone to use Aadhaar safely every day.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the National Energy Conservation Awards, consider the following statements:
1. Ministry of Power organizes National Energy Conservation Awards event every year on National Energy Conservation Day.
2. Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an executive body under Ministry of Power which is mandated to implement policy and programmes in the area of energy efficiency and conservation.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: A
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Aadhaar has touched the life of almost every Indian resident. In this context describe the significance and limitations of the Aadhaar.