Centre launches Aadhaar online verification scheme

Three ordinary residents with high flying Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia showcased their personal experiences on Friday to demonstrate that Nandan Nilekani led UIDAI delivers.

Updated on: May 25, 2013, 04:41:21 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Three ordinary residents with high flying Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia showcased their personal experiences on Friday to demonstrate that Nandan Nilekani led UIDAI delivers.

Ahluwalia received a duplicate copy of his misplaced Aadhaar letter amid glitter of cameras claimed to be downloaded from Unique Identification Authority's (UIDAI) public portal. This was done to show that getting an Aadhaar after enrollment is not difficult even if the Indian Posts fails to deliver your letter.

A reality check on the UIDAI's website showed that there is no provision of getting a duplicate Aadhaar letter. One can download his or her Aadhaar letter based on the acknowledgement slip at the time of enrollment.

The other three were there to show how the UIDAI's anywhere, anytime electronic know your customer (eKYC) system, first of its kind on a public platform, works. The service enables individuals to authorise service providers to receive electronic copy of their proof of identity and residence, similar to one giving a photocopy for paper KYC after online authentication.

Uday Pal, (62) from a below poverty line family, got his eKYC within second after a finger print authentication. Rita, (45) housewife from east Delhi, showed efficiency of online authentication based on one time password received on the mobile phones. The UIDAI used Ami Chand (71), a cataract operated person, was there to demonstrate iris (eye scan) based online authentication system, first of its kind in the world.

Any of the three authentication systems works on one principle. The information sought is scanned on real time basis in Aadhaar database and if it is there, the reply received is Yes. Or else, it says authentication failed.

"The e-KYC would enable one to seek a service without carrying any identity or residence proof documents," said AP Singh, deputy director general of UIDAI. For that to happen, the UIDAI will have to sign an agreement with individual service providers like telecom operators, LPG supplying companies and individual banks. "We would start the process soon," UIDAI chairperson Nilekani said.

Today was just a demonstration. The real challenge for UIDAI would quickness of authentication when millions of Aadhaar number holders use it at the same time. "We are braced up for the test," a UIDAI official said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.