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The Aadhaar Act says Aadhaar is not a proof of citizenship because even foreigners are eligible.
Before you generate an Aadhaar, the demographic details and biometric details of an individual are taken. (Representational)
Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chief Bhuvnesh Kumar on Monday asserted that Aadhaar is not proof of citizenship as anyone can apply for it, including children and even foreign nationals, provided they have lived in India for at least 182 days.
In an interview with Moneycontrol, Kumar said that only a small fraction of people with Aadhaar fall into these categories.
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Detailing the requirement of Aadhaar as an identity for an individual, Kumar explained that Aadhaar is different from other IDs in the sense that it is a foundational ID.
“Most of the other IDs are prepared on the basis of demographic details. They will take your name, your age, your photograph, and then create a driving license or a passport or any of those. But when you try to match, you cannot verify that this is the same person. There may not be uniqueness in that,” Kumar told the news outlet.
The UIDAI chief further explained that with Aadhaar, the uniqueness of the identity can be ensured 100% as 13 biometric attributes– 10 fingerprints, two iris scans, and face– are captured for generating the Aadhaar.
“When these attributes are captured, they are compared with the database, what in Aadhaar language is known as the CIDR, Central Identities Data Repository. We compare it with all the Aadhaars generated previously, which as of now is 142 crore,” he added.
Further detailing the purpose of Aadhaar, Kumar told the news outlet that UIDAI created an identity that is unique for everybody and cannot be duplicated.
“That is the beauty of this foundational ID. Which means if anybody tries to impersonate someone else, he or she will be caught immediately. That is why it is said Aadhaar should be used only with authentication or offline verification. If somebody is just giving a number, it does not carry meaning,” he added.
The UIDAI chief also explained that an individual can check the genuineness of the Aadhaar using the QR code, which is present at the back of the Aadhaar Card. This QR code is a unique data packet digitally signed by UIDAI. It can be read with our Aadhaar QR scanner app.
“When you scan, if it is genuine, the app will read the content without taking you to any website. It contains photo, name, gender, address, and date of birth. Even without the internet, whether in the jungle or on the sea, you can verify if Aadhaar is genuine,” he added.
The Aadhaar Act says Aadhaar is not a proof of citizenship because even foreigners are eligible. People from Nepal, Bhutan, OCI card holders, all can get Aadhaar after 182 days. For NRIs, since they hold Indian passports, the 182-day condition is waived. So Aadhaar is available to all resident Indians, NRIs, foreigners, and even newborns. There is no age limit.
Kumar’s comments came hours after the Supreme Court asked the Election Commission to accept Aadhaar as the 12th document for voters during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls of Bihar, ahead of Assembly polls in November this year.
In a verbal order issued in court this morning, a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said Aadhaar cards should be accepted as the 12th document to establish the identity of an individual for the purpose of inclusion in, or exclusion from, the electoral roll.
“We direct the Election Commission of India and its authorities to accept Aadhar card as a proof of identity for the purpose of inclusion or exclusion in the revised voter list of the State of Bihar. Aadhaar card, for this purpose, shall be treated as the 12th document by the Authorities,” the bench said.
The court, however, made it clear that the authorities would be entitled to verify the authenticity and genuineness of the Aadhaar Card, like any of the other enumerated documents, by seeking further proof or documents.
About the Author
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben…Read More
Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben… Read More
September 08, 2025, 22:37 IST
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