Govt Has No Plan To Use Aadhaar Data For Census, Says MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

As per the Unique Identification Authority of India, more than 136 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by it till the end of February.

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New Delhi: The government has no plan to use Aadhaar data for census, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar told Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

In a written reply, the minister said, "The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India has informed that there is no plan to use Aadhaar data for census."

As per the Unique Identification Authority of India, more than 136 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued by it till the end of February.

"... after adjusting for the estimated number of deaths, the estimated number of living Aadhaar number holders is 130.2 crore, which is over 94 per cent of the total projected population for 2022," Chandrasekhar said in reply to questions by Congress member Adoor Prakash.

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The minister further said that there is no mechanism to receive the Aadhaar numbers of the deceased persons from the Registrars appointed by state governments under the provisions of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 for the registration of births and deaths, to de-activate those Aadhaar numbers.

Meanwhile, the Centre has extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar card till June 30th.

Starting July 1, 2023, taxpayers who have failed to link their Aadhaar to their PAN card will face consequences. The government has announced that the PAN of such taxpayers will become "inoperative", the consequences of which will be “severe”.

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First, no refunds will be issued against such PAN cards. Additionally, interest will not be payable on any refunds due to these taxpayers during the period that their PAN remains inoperative.

Moreover, any TDS (tax deducted at source) and TCS (tax collected at source) will be deducted or collected at a higher rate, as provided for in the Act.