Mangaluru: The Aadhaar Act answers this question in the affirmative said deputy commissioner Sasikanth Senthil,  on Tuesday .

He also said, that the district administration decided to move the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) seeking clarification over media report describing the move by a Malaysian national obtaining one as anti-national and fraught with dangers for national security. The administration stated it has no role in issuing Aadhaar.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity number issued to all Indian residents based on their biometric and demographic data and UIDAI collects this data. “We have asked UIDAI about documents submitted to obtain Aadhaar,” Senthil said.

The administration does not use Aadhaar for any official purposes, nor does it confer any right or proof of citizenship or domicile in respect of an Aadhaar number holder, he added.

Since most financial transactions – be it filing IT returns or applying for a PAN card – now make it mandatory to quote Aadhaar number, it is likely that the Malaysian national, a student obtained one, a source privy to the development said.

Besides any individual who has resided in India for a period or periods amounting in all to 182 days or more in the 12 months immediately preceding the date of application for enrolment, is eligible for the same, the sources added.

Senthil, also the district electoral officer, dismissed apprehensions raised by political parties that people (read foreigners) could use Aadhaar as a means to getting their names in the voters’ list.

There is a strict laid down procedure before a person’s name is either entered or deleted from the voter’s list and the booth level officer, who is also ordinarily a voter in that booth, spearheads this activity with the booth level agents appointed by the respective political party.

A local inquiry is conducted to either add or deleting names from the voter’s list, Senthil said, adding that there are specified documents used for the purposes of verifying the date of birth of a voter as well as proof of residence and Aadhaar is not one among them.

The administration has received nearly 20,000 fresh applications for addition as on January 22 and nearly equal number of deletions have been carried out making the upcoming voters list number neutral, he said.