No proposal to link Aadhaar to property, says govt
What's the story
A month after MoS Housing Hardeep Puri hinted that Aadhaar would be linked to property transactions, the government claimed in the Parliament there's no such proposal under consideration.
However, Puri said the rural development ministry had urged authorities to consider the possibility of using consensual Aadhaar-based authentication for property registration.
The government recently extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar to various schemes.
Factors
Why the need to link Aadhaar to property anyway?
In July, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey had said something similar, noting Aadhaar is going to be made mandatory for buying and selling property.
The purpose, he said, was to reduce incidences of property disputes and litigation.
Despite the SC opposing mandatory Aadhaar, the government has continuously expanded its reach: from making it mandatory for taxes and subsidies to bank accounts and more.
Linking
Several states earlier launched drives to link Aadhaar with property
Still, several state governments including Haryana, UP, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana implemented exercises to link property to Aadhaar.
UP even discussed making it mandatory for land-owners to verify properties by furnishing Aadhaar.
The aim, again, was to curb fraudulent activities and get rid of middlemen.
SC
Final SC hearing on mandatory Aadhaar in January
Meanwhile, the SC is hearing petitions against mandatory Aadhaar and will conduct the final hearing on January 17, 2018.
For now, it has extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar to all government schemes till March 31.
Those arguing against Aadhaar said the Center shouldn't be allowed to take coercive action if someone refuses to provide Aadhaar details.