Make Aadhaar Linking to Voter ID Mandatory: Poll Panel Flip-Flops

The poll panel sought the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs, in an application to the Supreme Court.

The poll panel went back on its initial contention that Aadhaar linking to voter IDs should be voluntary.

(Photo: Saumya Pankaj/The Quint)

The Election Commission has sought the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs, in an application to the Supreme Court, The Indian Express reported on Sunday, 11 March. The poll panel had earlier said in the Apex court that linking Aadhaar to voter IDs was voluntary, but has now gone back on its statement.

The panel said that it wanted to make Aadhaar linking mandatory since the government had passed the Aadhaar Act. The Election Commission in its petition also contended that this would help prevent voter fraud.

The panel filed the revised application in the Supreme Court, seeking mandatory linking of the unique 12-digit identity number with voter IDs, The Indian Express report stated.

This move comes even as the Supreme Court is in the middle of hearing multiple petitions against the mandatory linking of Aadhaar to services, including phone numbers and bank accounts.

According to Rules 17 and 18 of the Aadhaar Act, if you fail to link your Aadhaar to your bank account on or before the deadline, your account shall “cease to be operational”.

The Election Commission had started the linking of Aadhaar to voter IDs in February 2015, but this was halted later in the year, after the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar should only be used for rations and for distribution of kerosene, LPG, and other essentials under the Public Distribution System.

The Election Commission’s push to make the linking of Aadhaar to Voter IDs comes despite several repeated breaches of the UIDAI database of Aadhaar records.

Several breaches of the UIDAI database have been reported, even as recently as 28 February, when a French researcher breached the Telangana government’s benefit disbursement portal, which holds the Aadhaar details of 56 lakh beneficiaries of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme (NREGA) and 40 lakh beneficiaries of social security pension schemes.

(With inputs from The Indian Express)