New Delhi The IT Ministry, on Thursday, launched Aadhaar Good Governance portal where private entities can seek permission from the government to use Aadhaar for authentication. The portal was created after the government amended the Aadhaar Authentication for Good Governance (Social Welfare, Innovation, Knowledge) Amendment Rules on January 31.
The portal, available at swik.meity.gov.in, lists 275 use cases at central and state government level for which MeitY has approved Aadhaar-based authentication since August 2020.
“The fresh amendment enables Aadhaar number holders to avail hassle free services from several sectors including hospitality, healthcare, credit rating bureau, e-commerce players, educational institutions and aggregator service providers. Service providers too will find it helpful for a range of things including staff attendance, customer onboarding, e-KYC verification, exam registrations etc.,” MeitY’s press statement said.
Through the amendment, the phrase “in the interest of good governance, preventing leakage of public funds, promoting ease of living of residents and enabling better access to services for them” was deleted, while “promoting ease of living of residents and enabling better access to services for them” was added as the fourth purpose, thereby expanding the scope of the reasons for authentication. The other three purposes are: use of digital platforms to ensure good governance, to prevent dissipation of social welfare benefits, and to enable innovation and spread of knowledge.
The amendment also detailed the process for private entities to follow to seek permission. The entities have to submit a proposal specifying the purpose and “in the interest of State” to the concerned ministry, department, or appropriate government. If the ministry or department is satisfied with the proposal, it will send it to the central government to “make a reference” to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
The UIDAI will assess the proposal and make its recommendation to Meity. MeitY will then authorise the relevant ministry, department, or appropriate government to notify that the entity — public or private — can be allowed to use Aadhaar for authentication.
When the amendment was notified, Prasanna S., an advocate on record in the Supreme Court who had challenged the constitutionality of Aadhaar, had said that this expansion was part of the “spectre of a surveillance state”, “unwarranted” and violative of the apex court’s Aadhaar judgement that struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016 to disallow private entities from using Aadhaar authentication services.