Cabinet approves amendments to Aadhaar Bill

The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by electronics and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on 24 June 2019. It replaces an Ordinance promulgated on 2 March 2019. On 8 July, the Rajya Sabha passed The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The Act provides for the use of Aadhaar number as proof of identity of a person, subject to authentication. The Bill replaces the provision to state that an individual may voluntarily use his Aadhaar number to establish his identity, by authentication or offline verification.

The Bill also states that authentication of an individual’s identity via Aadhaar, for the provision of any service, may be made mandatory only by law of Parliament.

At the same time, in a big boost to sugarcane farming, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, on Wednesday, announced the creation of a buffer to “give sugarcane farmers their due."

Speaking to reporters, union minister Prakash Javadekar said “The Cabinet has approved the creation of buffer stock of 40 lakh tonnes of sugar for a period of one year from 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2020 to give farmers their dues."

At the same time, Javadekar also announced that the Cabinet had approved the determination of “Fair and Remunerative Price" of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the 2019-20 sugar season at ₹275 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10%.

The Cabinet also approved the merger of the National Institute of Miners' Health with the ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health, while also approving the sale of 481.79 acres of land held by Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore.