Aadhaar not a proof of citizenship as even foreign nationals eligible for it, says UIDAI CEO

On the issuance of fake Aadhaar cards, Kumar said that most of the forged Aadhaars are look-alikes and not original cards.

UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar, in an interview to Moneycontrol, explained that Aadhaar card can be easily acquired by any resident, irrespective of whether they are Indian or not, and therefore it can’t be considered as a proof of citizenship.

“Now look at Aadhaar. What is the condition of getting an Aadhaar? You have resided in India for 182 days or more in the preceding 12 months and you are eligible to get an Aadhaar,” Kumar told Moneycontrol on September 8.

Kumar, however, clarified that Aadhaar cards can’t be duplicated by individuals. He said that one person cannot get two Aadhaars or one Aadhaar cannot be assigned to two people, the ID assigned to each applicant remains unique.

“That is the beauty of this foundational ID. So, it means that if anybody tries to impersonate anybody else, he or she will be caught immediately. And that is why it is said that Aadhaar should be used only with authentication or the offline verification.”

On the issuance of fake Aadhaar cards, Kumar said that most of the forged Aadhaars are look-alikes and not original cards.

“So, people use photoshops, and they create photo on photo and use various kinds of software to manipulate Aadhaar. They are not genuine Aadhaars. They are not Aadhaar generated by our system,” he said.

“So, when a lot of people say that there are fake Aadhaars or people have two Aadhaars. Most of these Aadhaars are look-alike kind of things.”

Out of the population of 142 crore, Kumar says that percentage wise it's “very miniscule”.

“But off and on we keep getting this information that there are rackets, there are people who are creating these kinds of things, action is taken, the district administration is informed, the police is able to go and check and stop these kind of activities.”

Kumar said when they get information that there are websites or portals, UIDAI gets them blocked. “And that is why again and again we advise. We advise everybody that please use Aadhaar with authentication or offline verification.

“Now you will ask me if I have an Aadhaar, how do I check whether it is genuine or not? Every Aadhaar card at the back or even the PVC card, Aadhaar letter we say or the PVC card at the back has a QR code,” he said.

Aadhaar is a foundational ID, which is unlike other forms of identification such as a driving license, passport or a voter ID that are all functional IDs. And functional ID has an eligibility criterion.

“So, you want a driving license. So, for a learner's driving license, you need to be like 16 or 17 years of age. For a full-fledged license, you have to be 18 years of age. You must know driving. There is a test which will be conducted. Correct. Similarly, when you apply for a passport, your address will be checked. There will be a police verification. That whole system will be followed and then you get a passport. Similarly, when you get a voter ID, there also you have to meet the condition, which are there in the law.

In the registration of electoral rules, three conditions will be there. You must be citizen of India. You must be 18 years of age and you must also be ordinary resident to that place.

So, if you fulfil these three conditions, then you can get voter ID, right? However, for Aadhaar, the only condition is that the applicant should have stayed in the country for 182 days or more.

Watch the full conversation here: