Full Aadhaar enrolment a major challenge, says new UIDAI chairman

New Delhi: With the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsides, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 notified earlier this month, achieving full enrolment and continuous updating of birth and death records will be the major challenges going ahead, said J. Satyanarayana, the newly appointed chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Speaking at a panel discussion on financial inclusion and benefit transfers at an event organised by the Centre for digital financial inclusion late evening on Wednesday, he also talked about the need for education among people under the Aadhaar Act.

“There are 3 key challenges that need to be addressed. Firstly, the remaining enrolments must be completed. We are moving at a very slow pace currently and this needs to speed up,” he said.

Secondly, the system must be updated with over 1 billion records. “The birth and the death rates must be continuously updated. Other than that, the age group of 5-15 years is also a crucial point,” Satyanarayana added.

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Lastly, the use of Aadhaar has to be promoted within the ambit of the provisions and regulations of the Act. These regulations contain procedures to ensure enrolment, authentication and use of Aadhaar and data and privacy protection which must be strictly in accordance with the Act, he said.

With more than 1 trillion electronic or digital transactions by next year, what is needed is a progression from e-governance to real-time governance.

“ Real-time governance indicates that we should not wait for the service to happen, it must be delivered at real time to us,” the chairman added.

Other members of the panel were Aruna Sundarajan, secretary, ministry of electronics and information technology; R. Chandrashekhar, president , Nasscom; and Peeyush Kumar, secretary, Direct Benefit Transfer mission.