Earlier this month, the police found 250 fake Aadhaar cards with the same image in a remote Uttar Pradesh village — Pokhari as per a Hindustan report.
Even though the government has reiterated that the system isn’t susceptible to fraud, India Spend’s report from last year shows that reported incidents are on the rise. Since 2011, there have been 164 Aadhaar-related frauds and nearly half of them — 73 incidents — came to light in 2018.
As recently as February this year, 127 Aadhar cards were deactivated by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in Hyderabad. “Fake Aadhaar number is not issued by UIDAI and hence is not an Aadhaar,” officials told The Hindu stating that, overall, 929 cards have been deactivated since February 2012.
The use of Aadhaar cards to procure essential supplies, at a time when many are facing the risk of starvation, could start a fresh wave of fraudulent Aadhaar-related incidents. “India is still grappling with limited financial, technological literacy — people aren’t sure of what they should or should not share and the authorities have failed to provide that clarity.” researcher Anmol Somanchi told India Spend.