Aadhaar data is completely safe: IT Minister Prasad

NEW DELHI: There has been no breach of Aadhaar data and a majority of the country's people trust the scheme as it is completely safe, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday.

Terming Aadhaar a game changer, Prasad said in Lok Sabha that as of now 120 crore people have the Aadhaar cards and 57 crore bank accounts were linked with it, which resulted in saving Rs 57,000 crore which otherwise would have been pocketed by some unscrupulous elements.

The minister said Unique Identification Authority of India has a well-designed, multi-layered robust system in place and the same is being constantly upgraded to maintain the highest level of data security and integrity.

"The UIDAI has adequate legal, organisational and technological measures in place for the security of the data stored with UIDAI," he said during the Question Hour.

Prasad said data protection measures have also been mandated for the requesting entities and eco-system partners.

"Government is fully alive to the need to maintain highest level of data security, privacy and is deploying the necessary technology and infrastructure," he said.

Referring to a media report which claimed that one can get the Aaadhar details of anyone by paying nominal fees, Prasad said an FIR has been registered but no journalist has been named.

"We respect press freedom. The journalist concerned should cooperate with the investigation," he said.

"Aadhaar data is completely safe. Aadhaar is a game changer. Majority of the people are trusting Aadhaar," he said.

The minister said if any company is found to be misusing Aadhaar data, it could be prosecuted and persons concerned could be jailed for three to seven years besides imposition of fine.

"This is incorporated in a clause of the Aadhaar Act," he said.

Prasad, however, said no one will be denied government benefits due to absence of Aadhaar as other options are also available.

He said Aadhaar is being appreciated by international organisations like the World Bank and the IMF.

When an MP referred to the Aadhaar case hearing in the Supreme Court, Prasad said the court case should not be discussed in the Lok Sabha as "this House is sovereign". BALASORE (ODISHA): India on Wednesday successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-ii missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range in Odisha, Defence sources said.

The trial of the surfaceto-surface missile, which has a strike range of 350 km, was carried out from a mobile launcher from launch complex-3 of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur near here at around 11.35 am, they said.

Describing the trial as a complete success, they said all mission objectives were met during the test launch.

The perfect test launch came after successful trial of Agni-5 on January 18 and Agni-1 missile conducted from Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast yesterday.

Prithvi-ii is capable of carrying 500-1,000 kilogram of warheads and is thrusted by liquid propulsion twin engines.

The state-of-the-art missile uses advanced inertial guidance system with manoeuvring

'The UIDAI has adequate legal, organisational and technological measures in place for the security of the data stored with UIDAI'

trajectory to hit its target, they said.

The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the entire launch activities were carried out by the specially formed Strategic Force Command (SFC) of the Army and monitored by the scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as part of training exercise, they said.

"The missile trajectory was tracked by radars, electro- optical tracking systems and telemetry stations by the DRDO along the coast of Odisha," the sources said.

The downrange teams onboard the ship deployed near the designated impact point in the Bay of Bengal monitored the terminal events and splashdown.

In salvo mode, on November 21, 2016, two missiles were successfully test fired in quick succession from the same base and the last trial was successful on June 2, 2017 from the same base. Inducted into the Armed forces of the country in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, singlestage liquid-fuelled Prithvi-ii is the first missile to have been developed by the DRDO under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), sources said.