Aadhar card is one of the most important identification held by an Indian citizen. Aadhar is a 12-digit unique number which is issued by the UDAI- Unique Identification Authority of India. It can be issued to every citizen of India after meeting the certain identification conditions structured by the Indian Authority. Every citizen of India has the right to enroll for Aadhar irrespective of their age, gender or religion. The 12-digit is a random issued to one person and therefore, it does not define any religion, caste or gender of the person. The Aadhar enrollment has to be done only once in life and the same will be valid for lifetime. Except in the cases of children below the age of 5 years as they will have to renew their Aadhar after the age of 5 years or else the ‘Bal Aadhar’ will expire. Aadhar card is only available for the Indian citizens. Overseas Citizens of India and Non-Resident Indian are not eligible for an Aadhar card. Aadhar can be obtained by any citizen by submitting a valid proof of address, identity and undergoing biometric profiling. If the person has ill-defined fingerprints or missing biometrics, they are still eligible to enroll for Aadhar in India. People with eye ailment or partial or complete blindness can also enroll for Aadhar. A family member with no individual valid documents still has the right to enroll for Aadhar card.
Aadhar card is used for many significant and mandatory functions such as for opening a bank account, applying for PAN card, passport etc. The UDAI has issued cautions and measures against sharing any Aadhar details for the purpose of safety of the citizen. Aadhar is issued as a proof of identity. Aadhar card is the most commonly accepted government issued- identity card. Aadhar can be downloaded online and the same copy can be used at any place any time. Citizens also have the benefit of an E-Aadhar that works as a digital document in need. The most crucial use of Aadhar are the benefits provided by the government such as the subsidies on Aadhar. The government subsidizes can be availed only by showing your valid Aadhar card. It has been announced by the government to link your Aadhar card to bank account and LPG connection so that the LPG subsidy can directly be transferred to the bank account. The availability of Aadhar card has made it easy to avail any service available by the government. People who do not have any other ID document can use Aadhar card for various purposes. There are also many drawbacks linked with Aadhar card. Strengths there exist some drawbacks of Aadhar as well. Aadhar is linked with a number of databases creating a high risk of personal data to be misused. The centralization of data can even create several issues for the government and common people as well. The poor and uneducated population of India does not understand the concept of Aadhar, therefore obtaining Aadhar for them becomes a difficult task making the things even more difficult. There are many remote places or rural areas where the facility of Aadhar still haven’t reached, and people are not educated about this new digital identification system. Aadhar is a versatile card that can be used and misused as well. Its disadvantages can also include identity theft, illegal training and surveillance and due to lack of clear data usage policy, it can hamper the security and civil freedom of a citizen. It is always the best to keep an ID proof like Aadhar safe to avoid any kind of discrepancy and infringement to freedom.