Shillong, Nov 28: The Meghalaya People’s Committee on Aadhaar (MPCA) asked BJP national spokesman Nalin Kohli to go through the birth of the concept for citizen identification by using biometric data as a means of unique identification and the new dispensation of NDA-II under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was pushing the matter very aggressively including getting the Aadhaar Bill passed twice in Lok Sabha.

In a statement issued here, MPCA convener, P.B.M. Basaiawmoit while reacting to the recent statement made by Kohli that Aadhaar would help get rid of ghost beneficiaries, said, “it started way back in 1999 immediately after the Kargil War during the Prime Ministership of Atal Behari Vajpayee of NDA-I but gradually took more twist and turns during UPA-II with the name ‘Aadhaar’ given by Nandan Nilekani. But the UIDAI Bill introduced then , was rejected as the then Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had raised plenty of questions on its legality, expense and issue of privacy.”

Basaiawmoit however said that the new dispensation of NDA-II under Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed the matter very aggressively including getting the Aadhaar Bill passed twice in the Lok Sabha in March 2016, after sending the Bill to the Rajya Sabha as a Money Bill so that the Upper House will not dilute the original Bill with amendments and the Act was awaiting for the ruling of the Supreme Court on its legality and constitutionality.

Basaiawmoit also said that the final hearing on Aadhaar has been postponed due to having to take up at the very earliest the imbroglio prevailing between the Delhi government and the Union government on demarcation of authority, accountability and responsibility on many matters of administration as probably, they are not spelled out in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.

“It is believed that till date , that there are some 28 affidavits or litigation papers submitted to the Supreme Court on the issue of Aadhaar including the desire to opt out or to withdraw from Aadhaar enrolment by those who have already enrolled,” he said.

Over 1500 people from across the state have decided to withdraw from Aadhaar enrolment during a campaign launched by the MPCA recently.