Aadhaar our digital identity; completely safe, secure: Ravi Shankar Prasad
Out of 122 crore cards issued, 95 crore Aadhaar cards have already been linked with bank accounts.
Guwahati: Union Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday assured that Aadhaar cards were completely secure and can prevent unscrupulous activities like money laundering.
He was speaking at the unveiling of 'Digital North East Vision 2022' here.
"Aadhaar is purely safe and secure. It is not based on caste or religion. It is our digital identity," the minister said.
Stating that 122 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued so far, Prasad said 95 crore bank accounts have already been linked with the digital identity cards.
He said with direct benefit transfers of various government schemes to peoples' accounts, the government could save Rs 90,000 crore by eliminating middlemen in the system.
He said the country has 121 crore mobile and 50 crore internet connections, out of which the penetration in North East is very high.
The senior BJP leader added that the Centre could save Rs 25 crore in purchase of dustbins due to digitisation.
"When our government came, there were only two mobile phone factories. Now, we have 127. India is becoming big in mobile manufacturing in the world. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have transformed India," he added.