Government’s approval to link voter ID cards with Aadhaar is a “path-breaking step” that will be a “win-win” for both voters and the Election Commission (EC), and is a unique example being presented by the largest democracy to the world, former finance secretary and former chief of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Ajay Bhushan Pandey, told News18.
The move was pushed first by UIDAI, EC and government during Pandey’s tenure at UIDAI and the Union Cabinet cleared the proposal on Wednesday on a voluntary basis. The Election Commission (EC) had championed the cause with the government. People will soon be able to link their voter ID card to their Aadhaar number either online or by phone.
Pandey told News18 that the move will provide transparency and convenience in the election process, with the verification of a voter at polling station becoming “easier and foolproof” while the voter will get the convenience of easily shifting his name in the voter lists when he changes cities or his location in the country.
“It will allow people in this very mobile world, when they move from one place to the other, and yet participate in the election process. Even though the linking is voluntary, I am sure that given the sheer convenience it will offer, more and more people will opt for the linkage of Aadhaar with their voter ID cards and take advantage of the convenience it offers. Just like people today voluntarily offer their Aadhaar for opening bank accounts, mobile phone connection or vaccination,” Pandey told News18.
Advantage to Citizen
Pandey said when a citizen today moves from Mysore to Delhi, and has to actually become a voter here, the process that is largely followed is based on the physical verification. “What could happen later on, there is a potential, and what I foresee is that system can be built that if a person’s name is deleted from where he has moved and added where the person has moved to — the whole process can be in a much shorter time and can be digital and online. There are ways to get the verification done in complete digital and secure manner and complete the process,” Pandey said.
“These are the possibilities, it may not happen immediately, but these are possibilities one can always work on. Basic foundation is there,” he said. Pandey said it has been seen in the election process that some people try to take an advantage that they will also vote in their village and they will also vote in an urban area. “Because of this linking and methodology, a person’s name could be there at only one place,” Pandey has said.
He said if a person links their Aadhaar number with the voter ID card, then they may not have to carry any other card during casting of their vote. “If your name is on the voter list and voter I-card is linked to Aadhaar number, you can walk into the polling station and vote there showing your Aadhaar ID,” the former UIDAI chief said.
How Does EC Benefit?
Pandey said for the EC, their process of voter verification, enrolling and transfer would become very easy with this step. “Also at the time of polling, the voter identification becomes very easy and fool-proof. This will help weed out all those voters who have moved and are not there at their earlier places of residence. It is quite possible that if someone has lived at three places in the last 10 years, it is possible that his or her name would be there in all those places. This is because the current deletion process might omit the deletion of such voters which are not there,” Pandey said.
He therefore said linking the voter ID card and Aadhaar would make the “voter data more and more authentic and perfect.” He said there were enough provisions in the Aadhaar Act and the system to maintain the integrity, security and privacy of the data.
“UIDAI, EC and the government had been working on this for the last few years and accordingly certain amendments were made a few years back in the Aadhaar Act to allow Aadhaar to be used for good governance and public purposes, that has paved the way for this transformative step,” Pandey told News18.
Message to the World
Pandey said this step is also a message to the world by the largest democracy with close to a billion voters. “This step is again going to be India’s first and unique in the world. Nowhere else have such transformative steps been taken in the election process. It is yet another unique example presented by India to the world, just like what India has done with Aadhaar, DBT, UPI and the Covid vaccination — this again an example in doing a digital way, one of the biggest processes in our country,” Pandey told News18.
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