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The Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar Bill to give statutory backing to the unique identity number scheme. According to FM Arun Jaitley, the Aadhaar Bill 'will empower the states to distribute resources of the State to deserving people and save the resources that undeserving people get.' The Minister said while replying to a short debate on the Aadhaar (Target Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016'. "The effect is going to be on the Centre and state governments which will save thousands of crore," Jaitley said just before the measure was adopted by a voice vote. Here is a basic fact sheet about the Aadhaar card:
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1. AADHAAR CARD BASICS: Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the Government of India. Aadhaar letter received via India Post and e-Aadhaar downloaded from UIDAI website are equally valid. (PTI)
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2. AADHAAR CARD WILL PROVIDE: Any individual, irrespective of age and gender, who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI can enrol and obtain Aadhaar card. Each individual needs to enroll only once which is free of cost. Aadhaar card number will remain valid for life. Aadhaar card number will provide access to services like banking, mobile phone connections and other Govt and Non-Govt services in due course. (Source: UIDAI Website screenshot)
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3. AADHAAR WILL BE: a) Easily verifiable in an online, cost-effective way, b) Unique and robust enough to eliminate the large number of duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases, c) A random number generated, devoid of any classification based on caste, creed, religion and geography. (Source: UIDAI Website screenshot)
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4. WHAT AADHAAR IS: 1. A 12-digit unique identity for every Indian individual, including children and infants; 2. Enables identification for every resident Indian; 3. Establishes uniqueness of every individual on the basis of demographic and biometric information; 4. It is a voluntary service that every resident can avail irrespective of present documentation; 5. Each individual will be given a single unique Aadhaar ID number; 6. Aadhaar will provide a universal identity infrastructure which can be used by any identity-based application (like ration card, passport, etc.); 7. UIDAI will give Yes/No answers to any identity authentication queries. (Source: UIDAI Website screenshot)
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5. WHAT AADHAAR IS NOT: 1. Just another card, 2. Only one Aadhaar card per family is enough, 3. Collects profiling information such as caste, religion, and language, 4. Mandatory for every Indian resident who has identification documents, 5. An individual can obtain multiple Aadhaar ID numbers, 6. Aadhaar will replace all other IDs, 7. UIDAI information will be accessible to public and private agencies. (Source: UIDAI Website screenshot)

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