Expats from other parts of the country are complaining about the "Aadhaar harassment" they too are facing (a point John Eric Gomes raised in another context).
In case you didn't know, the Aadhar is a new identity card that all residents (NOT citizens) of India are expected to have. There are challenges pending before the Supreme Court over whether this would violate the citizen's right to privacy (it uses fingerprints, iris scans, and seeks to link up with a whole lot of activities in the life of an average citizen). But, in the meanwhile, the government is pushing for all RESIDENTS to link their bank accounts, mobile phones, income tax, etc etc with their Aadhaar numbers. So what happens to expat Goans, since they are not eligible to Aadhaar cards (which is only for residents in the country)? @PKGulati wrote on Twitter: ... what's the #Aadhar status on #NRIs? My phone company, wallet company and bank are pushing for #Aadhar KYC (know your customer). What do we do? BTW, there are at least 32 (million) NRIs, per Wikipedia! No clear answer from the MEA [Ministry of External Affairs]. @MishiChoudhary, a lawyer, replied: There is a petition by an NRI in the SC (Supreme Court) asking for clarification. NRIs have been provided an alternate method for re-verification vide Department of Telecommunications' circular dated 01.12.2017 (see pages 7-10).... @PKGulati wrote back: Many thanks, but this clutters it further... There i no defined way to prove NRI status, except self-certification, which the service provider refuses to accept! Need specific clarification. He also pointed out that a visa status only proves the right of residence, not proof of 180 days of stay outside India. As the discussion continued, @MishiChoudhary suggested that visa status, green card, NRE/NRO bank accounts have been accepted, but @PKGulati argued that "after 25+ years as an NRI, proving it is still up in the air...." Anyone having an issue could also discuss it with the @SFLCin (Software Freedom Law Centre, India). FN -- _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا +91-9822122436 _/ RADIO GOANA: https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
