Aadhaar is completely secure, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Also says many Muslims have voted for BJP in recently held Assembly elections

While contoversies around Aadhaar refuse to die down, with questions being raised over its security and fear of misuse, Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad has denied any such threats and called these a negative campaign around Aadhaar. In an intervew with The Economic Times, Prasad also said Muslim women could associate with the Modi government's stand on triple talaq and many of them voted for the Bharatiya Janta Party. 

  

Here are some of Prasad's views on key issues:  

On Aadhaar 

The BJP leader said that Aadhaar as a platform was completely safe and secure and respected the privacy element. About 1.13 billion Indians have Aadhaar and the government has saved Rs 49,000 crore in various subsidies. In a democracy, everyone has a right to have an opinion. And I am more worried about some of the Congress friends, he said, when asked about a campaign being run against Aadhaar. He also congartulated Nandan Nilekani for aadhaar. 

He said the government wlould undertake a sensitisation programme to ensure that no personal information -- Aadhaar number or bank account -- is revealed. One incident occurred (Dhoni's Aadhaar form leak) and instant action was taken, he said.
 

Some of the controls about sharing of Aadhaar information are tougher than those of the phone tapping principles laid down by the Supreme Court, he further added.

Also Read: Aadhaar can be hacked, data leaked, Modi government finally admits 
 

On digital payments

The Rajya Sabha MP said the progress of digital payments had been very satisfactory and with the launch of Aadhaar Pay, the government is going to undertake a big campaign in this regard all over the country. 

On triple talaq 

He said that many Muslims voted for BJP in the recently held Assembly elections. UP has the highest number of sufferers in the country on account of triple talaq and the Narendra Modi government is standing firmly behind them to get them justice. 

However, he said he was not sure if they have voted or not, but has ample evidence that there was a profound sense of respect for Narendra Modi government for the way their problems have been raised. 

On government's futher action on triple talaq, Prasad said, the matter is before court, and we have already conveyed our position and which is very clear. The issue has no linkage with religion or faith. The issue simply is gender justice, dignity and equality. 20 Muslim-dominated countries including Pakistan have regulated or altogether abolished talaq and were not found foul of Sharia, how can this issue be raised in a secular country like India?