This refers Jyoti Mukul's article "Should Aadhaar be made mandatory?" (The Beat, October 22). The Unique Identification Authority of India makes it very clear that Aadhaar is voluntary and the central government has been maintaining the same stand. Many state governments, most of them Congress-ruled, have been over-enthusiastic and made the Aadhaar number mandatory for availing of some services and benefits from the government, possibly under a covert push from the party. There can be other effective means of targeting subsidies also. For example, computerisation of data and physical verification of addresses can help remove fake or duplicate beneficiaries. What is lacking currently is the political will. Meanwhile, Aadhaar is, and should remain, simply a unique personal identification, possibly the best among many others such as the passport, Permanent Account Number and so on.
Kishor Kulkarni Mumbai
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