Lok Sabha Question No. 672 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-20
Subject: Performance Audit on Functioning of UIDAI
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Jagdambika Pal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 672

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.07.2022

## PERFORMANCE AUDIT ON FUNCTIONING OF UIDAI

## 672.  SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL:

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

(a)  the  status  of  Action  Taken  on  the  recommendations  of  CAG's  Audit  Report  No.  24  of 2021 - (Meity) on 'Performance Audit on Functioning of UIDAI' along with the details of recommendations which have been implemented and those which are pending for implementation;

(b) the expenditure incurred by UIDAI for issuance of Bal Aadhaars till 31 March 2022;

- (c)  whether  UIDAI  stands  by  the  Supreme  Court's  2018  Judgement  on  Aadhaar  and providing unconditional exemption to children and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the number of Aadhaars which were cancelled by UIDAI for being duplicates along with the steps taken to minimize, generating of multiple/duplicate Aadhaar numbers; and

(e)  whether the Government has taken any steps to provide adequate facilities for  Aadhaar enrolment,  updating  and  retrieval  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  expenditure incurred by UIDAI for providing these facilities till 31 March 2022.

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR   ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a): Recommendations of the CAG's Audit Report No. 24 of 2021-(MeitY) on 'Performance Audit on Functioning of UIDAI' have been accepted for implementation. Action taken report has been uploaded on Audit Para Monitoring System (APMS) (https://apms.nic.in/) .

- (b): Total expenditure incurred in the last three years on Aadhaar Enrolments & Updates are as follows:

| Budget Head                  | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   |
|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
|                              | 2019-20                              | 2020-21                              | 2021-22                              |
| 113.04-E&U-OC Enrolment cost | 14160.18                             | 32009.82                             | 51990.00                             |

Since  common  infrastructure  is  used  for  generating  Aadhaar  for  all  age  group,  it  is technically not feasible to re-generate the report as on date for a legacy period for expenditure incurred for issuance of Bal Aadhaar.

(c): UIDAI has  abided  with  the  directions  of  the  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  in  its  judgment dated 26.09.2018, in the matter of Justice K.S Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Anr. Vs. UOI and Ors. The  necessary  amendments  have  been  made  in  the  Aadhaar  Act,  2016,  by  way  of  the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019.

In compliance of the aforesaid judgment, Section 3A (3) has been inserted in Aadhaar Act, 2016 vide the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019 which provides that:

'(3) Notwithstanding anything in Section 7, a child shall not be denied any subsidy, benefit or  service  under  that  section  in  case  of  failure  to  establish  his  identity  by  undergoing authentication, or furnishing proof of possession of Aadhaar number, or in the case of a child to whom no Aadhaar has been assigned, producing an application for enrolment'

(d): Aadhaars cancelled for being duplicate and for other reasons as of 31st May 2022 are 5,98,999.

UIDAI has taken adequate steps to address duplicate/ multiple Aadhaar generation issue and regular efforts are made to upgrade systems/ procedures.Thedemographic matching mechanism  has  been  further  strengthened,  biometric  matching  of  all  new  enrolments  is ensured and'Face' has been included as a new modality (in addition to finger print and iris) for de-duplication.

(e): Yes, Sir.  UIDAI through its Registrars ensures provision for Aadhaar enrollment/update to residents. As on 30th June 2022, more than 57000 Aadhaar centres are active across the country.   In  addition  to  the  above,  around  34,500  Tablet/Mobile  based  machines  are  also functional in the field which is used for updating mobile number/email id in Aadhaar and to provide facility for Aadhaar enrolment for children under the age group of 0-5. UIDAI also permits residents to update their demographic details such as Name (minor change), Date of Birth, Gender and Address through online myAadhaar portal.

With regard to provisions available for retrieval of Aadhaar, residents can retrieve their lost EID/UID number by filling the required details on UIDAI myAadhaar portal under the link: https://myaadhaar.uidai.gov.in/retrieve-eid-uid.

Residents  can  also  retrieve  their  lost  EID/UID  by  visiting  the  nearest  Aadhaar  Enrolment Centre  or  by  calling  UIDAI  call  centre  1947.  For  retrieving  the  EID/UID,  residents  are  to provide their demographic details properly.

The expenditure incurred in  the last  three  years  on  Aadhaar  Enrolments  &  Updates  are  as follows:

| Budget Head                  | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   | Expenditure Incurred (Rs. In Lakh)   |
|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Budget Head                  | 2019-20                              | 2020-21                              | 2021-22                              |
| 113.04-E&U-OC Enrolment cost | 14160.18                             | 32009.82                             | 51990.00                             |

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