Under the Aadhar Scheme, Indian Government collected Biometric Data of 99 Crore Indians

India: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology informed that it has collected the biometric data of close to 99 Crore citizens. The ministry ensured that the data is secure and is stored within the country data centers located in Manesar and Bangalore. Also, in data collection process no foreign agency is involved.

The ministry further informed that in the case of Direct Benefit Transfer Scheme -INR 15,000 Crore are saved, and in Public Distribution System -INR 2,346 Crore are saved in four states because of the Aadhar Scheme.

The data collection for Aadhar Scheme is a three-tier architecture -first the state government, second public sector banks and the last is common service centers. After the collection of biometric data, it is encrypted and sanctity is maintained.

TechSci Research depicts that Aadhar Scheme would help the citizens in availing various benefits easily and on the other hand it will support the Indian Government to save expenditure. Currently, Aadhaar card is being used to avail Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) subsidy, for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Public Distribution System ration scheme in the selected states.

According to recently published report by TechSci Research, “India Biometrics Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, biometrics market in India is projected to grow at a robust CAGR of over 35% till 2020. Growth in the market is anticipated on account of increasing use of various biometric products in government and BFSI sector across the country. Government projects such as issuance of e-passports and visas, and the Aadhaar system under UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), which employ biometric systems for identification and authentication purposes, have been hugely boosting the use of biometric technology.