From cradle to grave: Now, Home Min mandates Aadhaar for death certificates [Read Home Min clarification]

The central government’s push to make Aadhaar all-pervasive in our daily lives has gone beyond the grave. This time, the Home Ministry has mandated the requirement of the twelve-digit number for registration of deaths..Rather than putting an additional burden on aggrieved relatives of the deceased, the Centre believes that such a move would “result in ensuring accuracy of the details provided by the relatives / dependents / acquaintances of the deceased”..The power of the Registrar General of India to make such a rule, the press release states, stems from Section 3(3) of the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969. Moreover, the release also states that Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act allows the use of Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose..Should the person applying for a death certificate not be aware of the Aadhaar number of the deceased, he must submit a certificate saying so. In the event that a false declaration is made in this regard, it will be treated as an offence under the Act..Despite the Supreme Court’s directions stating that Aadhaar should not be mandatory, the Centre has been on a relentless drive to cast the UID net over a wide array of services, from mid-day meals, to filing of income tax returns, to even filing cases in court..However, the Supreme Court has chosen to look the other way at the Centre’s multiple infractions of its orders. It has, however, looked into the privacy concerns associated with Aadhaar and has reserved its judgment in a batch of petitions challenging the scheme..Update: The Home Ministry has clarified that will not be mandatory to quote Aadhaar for registration of death certificates, as was “self-explanatory” in their press release.