Don't link Aadhaar with voter IDs, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad

Union Minister for Electronics, Information and Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday that he is personally not in favour of Aadhaar numbers being linked to electoral photo-identity cards (EPIC), according to a report by The Times of India.

Prasad said that the Aadhaar card and the EPIC were meant to serve different purposes.

Speaking at an event, Prasad said, "I am not saying this as an IT minister... My personal opinion is Aadhaar should not be linked with the voter ID card," adding that the Centre was not ready to be accused of snooping on people.

"If we do this, our detractors will say, 'PM Narendra Modi is snooping on us to know what we eat, which movie we are watching' and so on. I don't want that to happen," the minister said.

"Both of them [Aadhaar and voter ID] operate in different fields. You go to cast your vote...if you show your Aadhaar card, you will not be allowed to cast your vote unless you show your voter ID card."

"The larger issue is that if everything is linked to Aadhaar, then the great supporters of anti-Aadhaar will say that the Narendra Modi government is snooping on everything, boarding, what you are eating, which cinema you are going. I don't want that," he claimed.

EPIC cards have been linked to the Election Commission’s website which will help voters get polling information such as voting booth details, Prasad said, adding that “Aadhaar is not related to this.”

However, the IT minister supported mandatory Aadhaar linkage with bank accounts, claiming that it will improve transparency and help in delivering welfare schemes benefits via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

"There is a clear difference between the Aadhaar of Modi and the Aadhaar of Manmohan Singh. While Singh's Aadhaar had no support of law, Modi's Aadhaar is backed by law, and security and privacy are completely ensured," he emphasised.

Prasad said that more than 80 crore mobile phone numbers had been linked to bank accounts as part of the government’s Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and mobile numbers (JAM) trinity and added that more than 31 crore Jan Dhan accounts had been opened.

Overall, more than 120 crore mobiles had been linked to Aadhaar, he stated.

On March 13, the Supreme Court indefinitely extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar numbers with bank accounts and phone numbers, until the top court pronounces its verdict in the ongoing Aadhaar validity case.

(With PTI inputs)