Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia may not use his unique identity number ‘Aadhaar’ frequently, but he was certainly worried when he lost the card containing this number.

However, on Friday, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) brought a smile to his face, when it handed over an e-Aadhaar letter to him on the occasion of the launch of three new services and permanent enrolment centres or Aadhaar Kendras.

After the launch, people in need of an Aadhaar number can go to permanent enrolment centres, where they will get not just e-Aadhaar numbers for Rs 10, but can also get a unique identity number to any new addition in the family, besides updating biometric or demographic data by paying Rs 15. Those who could not enrol during the special drives can also visit such centres.

The authority is starting 300 such centres. The plan is to scale this number up to 1,000 by September. The Aadhaar Kendras will be located in Common Service Centres or Government Buildings in block/mandal/tehsil/taluka or municipal ward offices.

Three Aadhaar-enabled services were also launched, including e-KYC, OTP (one-time pin) authentication and Iris authentication. UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani termed all these as a part of ‘Portable Digital Assets’, and said these would act as a single gateway to many services. This will also help to roll out various schemes in a cost-effective manner.

The e-KYC service will enable individuals to authorise service providers to receive electronic copies of their proof of identity and address. This service can be deployed by agencies to verify a resident’s identity and address.

Only demographic information (name, address, date of birth, gender, photograph and mobile number) that is collected during Aadhaar enrolment will be shared, at the request of, and/or with the consent of the number holder. However, the information will be available only for a few seconds to the service provider to avoid misuse.

The OTP service will enable Aadhaar-based authentication of all residents using their mobile telephone anytime, anywhere on self-service mode without having to use the biometric authentication device. This service will enable residents to authenticate identity for availing themselves of Aadhaar-enabled services by providing a combination of the Aadhaar number and iris image of the individual.

Under the OTP service and iris authentication, the authority’s digital platform would not share the demographic details and respond in only in ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to authenticate the identity of an individual.

shishir.sinha@thehindu.co.in

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