Aadhaar is a 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India on behalf of the Government of India.
The basic objective of the scheme is to provide an identification number to the residents in India.
This is meant to facilitate its use in various government schemes so as to reach the real beneficiaries. Other agencies can use this card wherever identification is required.
With the biometric record in the card, the identity of an individual can be checked anywhere, anytime.
This card, however, is not a citizenship card and it has not been seen as a replacement for any other card like PAN Card. The Aaadhar number will serve as a proof of identity and address, anywhere in India.
Any individual (irrespective of age and gender), who is a resident in India and satisfies the verification process laid down by the UIDAI, can enrol for Aadhaar.
Each individual needs to enroll only once free of cost — and his Aadhaar number will be unique and will remain valid for life.
The acceptance of Aadhaar numbers has got extended to to services like banking, mobile phone connections and many government and non-government services.
Aadhaar is easily verifiable in an online and cost-effective way. The authority claims that its system is unique and robust enough to eliminate the large number of duplicate and fake identities in government and private databases.
