Lok Sabha Question No. 1660 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-16
Subject: Linking of Voter ID with Aadhaar
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Ritesh Pandey, Pradyut Bordoloi, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1660

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, 16 TH  DECEMBER 2022

## LINKING OF VOTER ID WITH AADHAAR

## 1660. Shri Ritesh Pandey:

Shri Pradyut Bordoloi:

Shri Syed Imtiaz Jaleel:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  of  voter  IDs  linked  with  Aadhaar  since  the  Election  Laws
- (Amendment) Act, 2021 came into force;
- (b) whether linking of voter IDs is voluntary and linked after taking  consent from voters and can also be deleted if a voter takes back the consent details thereof indicating the manner in which the consent is obtained from voters;
- (c) whether election officers have been given any targets to link voter IDs, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has set any deadline for linking the voter IDs, if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  name  of  the  voters  whose  voter  IDs  are  not  linked  with Aadhaar will be struck off  from the voter list, if so, the details and grounds thereof; and
- (f)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  steps  to  protect  voter  database  from being misused, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reason therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

- (a) to (b): The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows Electoral Registration  Officers  to  require  the  existing  or  prospective  elector  to provide the Aadhaar number for the Purpose of establishing identity on a  voluntary  basis.  The  Election  Commission  of  India  (ECI) vide its instruction  dated  4 th July,2022,  has  launched  the  programme  to  collect the Aadhaar number of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from 1 st August, 2022 in all States and UTs. lt is voluntary to link Aadhaar  with  Voter  ID  and  consent  is  obtained  from  the  elector  for

Aadhaar authentication in Form 6B. There is no provision for withdrawing the consent.

- (c): Linking of Aadhaar is process driven and no targets have been given for linking Aadhaar with EPIC.
- (d): The notification number S.O. 2803(E), dted17 th June, 2022 specifies the 1 st April, 2023 as the date on or before which every person whose name is  included  in  the  electoral  roll  may  intimate  his  Aadhaar  number  in accordance  with  section  23  of  the  Representation  of  the  People  Act, 1950.
- (e): No sir.
- (f): The  Unique  ldentification Authority of lndia (UlDAl),  under  the Aadhaar(Targeted  Delivery  of  Financial  and  other  Subsidies,  Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 and theregulations made thereunder, has made it  compulsory  for  the  centralised  storage  of  all  Aadhaar  numbers  in  a different  repository  known  as  'Aadhaar  Data  Vault'.  The  ECI  strictly follows  the  guidelines  prescribed  by  UIDAI  and  does  not  store  the Aadhaar numbers in its database. The Aadhaar number is used only for authentication purposes and ECI does not retrieve any personal information from the UIDAI Aadhaar data base.

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