Aadhaar card under 180 days for NRIs on arrival in India
The government on Friday proposed to consider issuing Aadhaar cards to Non-resident Indians (NRI)s with Indian passports in India without having to wait for the necessary 180 days.
"I propose to consider issuing Aadhar card for NRIs with Indian passports after their arrival in India without waiting for the mandatory 180 days," Sitharaman said while presenting the 2019-20 Union Budget in the Parliament.
Sitharaman said to provide NRIs seamless access to Indian equities, NRI portfolio investment route to be merged with foreign portfolio investment route.
Sitharaman also announced that 18 new diplomatic missions will be opened in various locations across Africa.
"We have decided to open Indian embassies and high commissions where India does not have diplomatic missions yet. We have approved 18 new Indian diplomatic missions in Africa," the FM said on Friday.
"Five embassies have already been opened in Rwanda, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Guinea and Burkina Faso in 2018-19. The government intends to open 4 more embassies in the year 2019-20. This will not increase the footprint of India's overseas presence but also enable us to provide better public services to the local Indian communities," she added.
According to the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, an NRI who has resided in India for 182 days or more in 12 months and with an Indian address could apply for Aadhaar.
However, as per the Aadhaar Act, NRIs are fully exempt from producing Aadhaar for any verification.
Meanwhile, The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a plea challenging the provisions of the Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2019.
A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde also issued notice to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) seeking its response on the plea which has also challenged the Aadhaar (Pricing of Aadhaar Authentication Services) Regulations, 2019.
The petitioner alleged in his plea that the 2019 ordinance and regulations violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
