Impact of Aadhaar on Education and Health Sectors

The Unique Identification Project implemented by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for all the residents of India is one of the historic ventures ever tried out in the government sector. The entire nation is out to share their personal details along with their fingerprints and iris scan for verification and authentication purposes at any point of time and at any place as and when required. The data so collected can be stored and retrieved without the issue of dealing with duplication. This system can also avoid the need for various other IDs like the PAN card, Voter ID, PDS ID, census ID, etc. There are several factors that suggest that this unique identification number (UID) allotted to all the residents of India can influence almost every other policy making decision that the government intends to come out with. However, this article would like to study and analyse the impact of this UID on the sectors of education and health which are termed as the ‘Safety Nets’. The article also intends to look at the essential health care services that a Unique ID like Aadhaar can deliver if implemented. An attempt has also been made to look into the impact that the assessment or analysis of health data can bring about for the policy makers.