The Union Government has clarified that the Aadhaar card is not mandatory for central government employees to get their pension.
The information was shared by the Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh during the 30th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies. The Minister stated that Aadhaar is an additional facility to enable the use of technology for submission of life certificate without the need for visiting banks.
The minister clarified that Aadhaar has not been made mandatory for getting pension for government employees.
Significance
The announcement is of significance as there were reports of some retired employees facing difficulty in getting the pension in the absence of Aadhaar linkage with their bank accounts.
Background
• There are about 48.41 lakh central government employees and 61.17 lakh pensioners in the country.
• Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identity number is the world's largest biometric ID system.
• It was issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), a statutory authority established in January 2009 by the Union Government of India.
• The constitutional validity of the biometric ID system is currently being contested in the Supreme Court, as people feel that mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts, mobile phones and government schemes is a violation of their right to privacy, a fundamental right.
Besides this, Jitendra Singh cited various initiatives started by the Union government for the welfare of its employees and pensioners.
The Union Government has increased the minimum pension of government employees to Rs 9,000, ceiling of gratuity to Rs 20 lakh and fixed medical allowance to Rs 1,000 per month.
The government also increased the constant attendance allowance from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,750 with effect from July 1, 2017. Benefits relating to income-tax such standard deduction and tax-rebate on interest have also been introduced in the Finance Bill 2018.
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