Rajya Sabha returns Aadhaar Bill to Lok Sabha with amendments

Zee Media Bureau

The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday returned Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016 to the Lok Sabha with amendments.

The four amendments, including ensuring that it remains voluntary, are in clauses 3, 7, 33 and 57 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016.

The Rajya Sabha had a limited role in passage of a money bill, as the Aadhaar bill has been designated, and can only suggest amendments, which can be accepted or rejected by Lok Sabha.

In case amendments are recommended, the bill will remain pending unless the process is completed in Lok Sabha.

The bill now has to go the Lok Sabha again, where the amendments would be either accepted or defeated.

The Lok Sabha had last week (March 11) passed the much talked about Aadhaar Bill.

It was passed as a money bill overruling Congress' objections that it has been turned into a money bill to avoid voting in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority.

Introducing the bill in the Upper House earlier during the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley debated on security concerns stating that privacy was not an absolute right.

“Privacy not an absolute right, it is subject to a restriction that it can be restricted by a procedure established by law,” he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech for 2016-17 announced government plan to give statutory backing to Aadhaar.

Till date over 98 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated. Per day average of 26 lakh biometric and over 1.5 lakh e-KYC transactions are made. Aadhaar numbers have been seeded in 11.19 crore DBTL accounts out of total 16.5 crore DBTL beneficiaries.

Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016.

The bill was, however, accepted with amendments and will be sent back to the Lower House, Lok Sabha, for further review.

The Lok Sabha had last week (March 11) passed the much talked about Aadhaar Bill.

It was passed as a money bill overruling Congress' objections that it has been turned into a money bill to avoid voting in the Rajya Sabha where the government does not have a majority.

Introducing the bill in the Upper House earlier during the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley debated on security concerns stating that privacy was not an absolute right.

“Privacy not an absolute right, it is subject to a restriction that it can be restricted by a procedure established by law,” he said.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech for 2016-17 announced government plan to give statutory backing to Aadhaar.

Till date over 98 crore Aadhaar numbers have been generated. Per day average of 26 lakh biometric and over 1.5 lakh e-KYC transactions are made. Aadhaar numbers have been seeded in 11.19 crore DBTL accounts out of total 16.5 crore DBTL beneficiaries.

With Agency Inputs