Lok Sabha Question No. 2759 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-01-03
Subject: Memorandum from Citizens Regarding Aadhaar
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: KALIKESH NARAYAN SINGH DEO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND  INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2759

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03-01-2018

## MEMORANDUM FROM CITIZENS REGARDING AADHAAR

## 2759.        SHRI KALIKESH N. SINGH DEO:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)        whether  the  Government  has  received  any  memorandum  from  citizens  asking  for  their information to be deleted from the Aadhaar database and their Aadhaar cards be cancelled;
- (b)    if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c)    whether a provision has been made for citizens to opt out of the Aadhaar scheme, especially for those not receiving any welfare benefit from the Government;
- (d)    if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e)    whether fresh consent is sought every time Aadhaar scheme is extended to new schemes, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (f)    whether there is provision to revoke consent from using Aadhaar card for new schemes and if so, the details thereof and if not, the time by which the Government is likely to bring out such a provision?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR   ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ALPHONS KANNANTHANAM)

(a) and (b): All the requests received for deactivation or cancellation from citizens are dealt as per Para  27,  28  and  29  of  the  Aadhaar  (Enrolment  &  Update)  Regulations,  2016.  Para  27  of  the Aadhaar (Enrolment & Update) Regulations, 2016 makes provision for cancellation of Aadhaar.

(c)  and  (d): No, Sir. There is no provision in the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 for citizens to opt out of the Aadhaar scheme.

(e)  and  (f):  As  per  Section  8  of  the  Aadhaar  Act,  consent  of  an  individual  is  obtained  before collecting his identity information for the purposes of authentication of the Aadhaar number of an Aadhaar number holder. The identity information of an individual is only used for submission to the Central Identities Data Repository (CIDR) for authentication.  Besides, under Section 8(3) of the  Aadhaar  Act,  2016  read  with    the    Regulation  5  and  6  of  the  Aadhaar  (Authentication) Regulation,  2016  of  the  said  Act,    the  individual  submitting  his  identity  information  for authentication, shall be informed of the following details with respect to authentication, namely:-

- (i) The nature of information that may be shared upon authentication;
- (ii) The uses to which the information received during authentication may be put; and
- (iii)   Alternatives to submission of identity information.

Unique  Identification  Authority  of  India  (UIDAI)  issues  Aadhaar  numbers  and  provides authentication services for establishing identity of the beneficiaries.  The usage of Aadhaar for delivery of welfare service, benefits or any other purpose and the extent to which Aadhaar is to be used is determined by the implementing agencies such as State Governments/Central Ministries and other agencies.  It is upto the citizen to give consent for any scheme.

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