Not always a hindrance, now Aadhaar will help missing children
Aadhaar will now come to the rescue of missing children in India. Since missing children don't have any information on their whereabouts, in cases where their families are traced, this lack of information delays the process of rehabilitation by months. Now, the government has mandated that every missing child gets a new Aadhaar card before being taken in by the care homes.
Want bank account, PAN card or file taxes? Get Aadhaar
Modi government made it compulsory for those applying for PAN card or filling I-T returns to have an Aadhaar card. Aadhaar has been mandated for opening new bank accounts and for transactions above Rs. 50,000. Even EPFO retirement funds will go to those with Aadhaar. In fact, for college students who wish to accept the government-funded scholarships, they need to have an Aadhaar card.
How much of this Aadhaar linking is legal?
The government used the PMLA to make Aadhaar compulsory for opening bank accounts and block the ones without but is it legal? However, unless the PMLA is amended the government can't legally make linking bank accounts compulsory. Moreover, the move to block the accounts is unconstitutional because the parliament did not authorize the central government the power to block accounts.
Banks pushed to ensure all accounts are linked to Aadhaar
While the deadline for linking the Aadhaar card with banks is 31 December, the government has already started pressing the banks to finish this by August. After 31 August all accounts without Aadhaar will be made invalid; hence the government wants all of India's 110 crore bank account holders to get their Aadhaar ready. It's common to see banks operating as Aadhaar enrollment centers.
Is the Aadhaar data in safe hands?
A report from the Centre for Internet Society revealed that over 13 crore Aadhaar card details have been "leaked, stolen or compromised". A few months back, Dhoni's Aadhaar leak had made headlines. With no laws for the protection against violation of privacy of individuals, the data of Indian users isn't really in safe hands.
50% rise in missing children since 2013
The government wants the child care houses to implement the new Aadhaar rules to provide rehabilitation to these children quickly. The missing children cases have risen by 50%. In 2013, 32,244 children went missing, while in 2015 the number was 62,988 in 2015.
