Quicker passports, digital life certificates, thanks to Aadhaar

Leveraging the Aadhaar number to simplify government processes, the Modi government on Monday launched a digital life certificate for 5 million pensioners and discussed plans to use the unique number to halve the period taken to issue passports.

Leveraging the Aadhaar identity to simplify government processes, the government on Monday launched a digital life certificate for 5 million pensioners and discussed plans to use the unique number to halve the period taken to issue passports.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Aadhaar-based Digital Life Certificate that would end the need for pensioners to submit a life certificate in November to continue getting their pension.

Following Modi’s meeting on rolling out Aadhaar-linked applications, the external affairs ministry also held discussions with the home ministry to use Aadhaar for reducing delays in issuing passports.

Currently, all applications are sent to the local police for verification that often delays issuance of passports. Once Aadhaar is made mandatory, the external affairs ministry believes this would essentially confirm the applicant’s identity.

So it would be suffice to run the applicant’s details through a central database of criminal antecedents of people maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau. Based on the NCRB validation, Aadhaar number and self-declaration, the passports can be issued and the police verification carried out later.