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?

a. 1 and 4 only

b. 2 and 4 only

c. 3 only

d. 1, 2 and 3 only

Answer- b

Explanation:

The Supreme Court, while upholding the constitutional validity of Aadhar, said that the metadata can be stored for 6 months. Metadata or metabase is a set of data that describes and gives information about other data.

Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

The Supreme Court also struck down “Section 57” of the Aadhaar Act, which enabled the government to provide permission to private entities to use Aadhaar authentication to establish an identity for delivering services.

Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Aadhar is mandatory only for obtaining subsidies and other benefit transfers and not for obtaining insurance products, bank accounts, school admissions, etc.

Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.

As per section 7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016, the Central or State Governments may mandate requirement of Aadhaar of the beneficiaries for availing the benefits/subsidies under the schemes that are funded out of the Consolidated Fund of India or Consolidated Fund of the State. This is important to identify the intended beneficiaries of the scheme and to remove the fakes or duplicates from the scheme database.

Hence, statement 4 is correct.

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