Indian govt tables bill to amend Aadhaar act in Lok Sabha

The government introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday a Bill to amend the Aadhaar Act to provide legislative framework for voluntary seeding of biometric Aadhaar ID with mobile numbers and bank accounts.

The government proposed this after the Supreme Court barred some private firms and services from making the access of Aadhaar identification numbers mandator y.

However, the manner in which the Congress and some Opposition parties raised objections should alert the government about a stiffer resistance it could face in the Opposition-dominated Rajya Sabha. In fact, this has already led to whispers in Parliament that the Bill, once passed in the Lok Sabha, could be introduced in the Rajya Sabha as a Money Bill with due certification from the Lok Sabha Speaker.

The government had used the same legislative devise when it introduced the original Aadhaar Bill in the Rajya Sabha as a Money Bill, which can seriously limit the role of the Rajya Sabha.

While introducing the Bill, Law and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad rejected the Opposition allegations by insisting that the proposed amendment "is in compliance with the Supreme Court" judgement and that there will be "no infringement of privacy" while pointing out that the government has already prepared a data protection bill and that it would be introduced in Parliament soon.

"Let me clarify at the outset that the proposed amendment is done in compliance with the Supreme Court judgement. It (linking) is not mandatory at all...The issue of privacy is not being invaded at all," Prasad said and argued that parallel authentication norms are there to safeguard privacy issues.

"We should not forget that Aadhaar has led to saving of Rs 90,000 crore through Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT)," the minister said.

NK Premachandran (RSP), opposing the amendment, argued that it will seriously affect privacy and alleged that the government's move will aim at limiting Parliamentary scrutiny on issues of privacy and accountability.

Congress member Shashi Tharoor saw the provisions of the Bill as a violation of the SC order and added, "The bill is premature because first we need enactment of the data protection law..The bill must be withdrawn and revised."

Saugata Roy of Trinamool Congress) also accused the government of trying to infringe upon the SC order and claimed that the Bill has been brought without the consent of the stakeholders. The Speaker later adjourned the proceedings and it is now up to the government to decide when to take up the Bill to be passed.