Q. Consider the following statements:
1.Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than three months.
2.State cannot enter into any contract with private corporations for sharing of Aadhaar data.
3.Aadhaar is mandatory for obtaining insurance products.
4.Aadhaar is mandatory for getting benefits funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation: Source: PYQ, UPSC CSE 2019
Statement 1 is incorrect: Supreme Court had ruled that Aadhaar metadata cannot be stored for more than six months.
Statement 2 is correct: The Supreme Court struck down part of section 57 which allowed providing private corporations to verify Aadhaar data as unconstitutional.
Statement 3 is incorrect: The same 2018 judgement also held making that Aadhaar mandatory for other services apart from welfare schemes as unconstitutional. Subsequently, IRDAI issued an advisory in January 2019 that clarified that Aadhaar is not mandatory for obtaining insurance.
Statement 4 is correct: The Supreme court in the Aadhaar verdict had defined the welfare schemes as those funded from the consolidated fund of India. And it upheld the validity of Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act which states that Central or State Governments can make possession of an Aadhaar number or Aadhaar authentication mandatory for receipt of subsidies, benefits or services funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India.
