Names of people who don't link Aadhaar with election card won't be struck off voters' list: Govt
New Delhi (PTI): The names of people who do not share their Aadhaar number to link with the election identity card will not be struck off the voters list, the government said on Friday, noting that the exercise is voluntary.
The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows electoral registration officers to require the existing or prospective elector to provide the Aadhaar number for the "purpose of establishing identity" on a "voluntary basis", Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said in Lok Sabha.
He was responding to a question on the linkage of Aadhaar with electoral rolls.
The Election Commission has launched a programme to collect the Aadhaar number of existing and prospective electors on a voluntary basis from August 1 in all the states and UTs.
It is voluntary to link Aadhaar with a Voter ID and consent is obtained from the elector for Aadhaar authentication in Form 6B which was recently introduced, he said.
However, the minister made it clear that "there is no provision for withdrawing the consent" to share Aadhaar details.
Asked whether the name of the voters whose voter IDs are not linked with Aadhaar will be struck off from the voters' list, he replied in the negative.
The minister informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday that more than 54 crore of the nearly 95 crore total voters have opted to link their Aadhaar details with the voter list.
He said linking of Aadhaar is "process driven" and "no targets have been given" for linking Aadhaar with election photo identity card.
Rijiju said the Unique Identification Authority of India (UlDAl), under the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 has made it compulsory for the centralised storage of all Aadhaar numbers in a different repository known as 'Aadhaar Data Vault'.
The Election Commission strictly follows the guidelines prescribed by UIDAI and "does not" store the Aadhaar numbers in its database. The Aadhaar number is used only for authentication purposes and EC does not retrieve any personal information from the UIDAI Aadhaar database, he underlined.
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Thumbay Group begins work on Sharjah’s first private integrated psychiatric, rehabilitation hospital
Sharjah: Thumbay Group has laid the foundation stone for the Thumbay Psychiatric and Rehabilitation Hospital at Sharjah Healthcare City, a 120-bed facility that the company says will be the region’s first private, fully integrated hospital dedicated to psychiatric care, neuro-rehabilitation and addiction recovery.
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri, who is also a member of the Sharjah Executive Council, in the presence of Dr. Thumbay Moideen.
Spread across 110,000 square feet, the hospital is being developed to address growing demand for specialised mental health and rehabilitation services in the UAE and the wider Gulf region.
The facility will include inpatient and outpatient services in psychiatry, neuro-rehabilitation, addiction treatment, child and adolescent mental health, and care for mood and anxiety disorders. It will also feature VIP inpatient villas designed to provide privacy and support long-term recovery.
A mosque, named the Thumbay Masjid, will be constructed within the campus and will be open to the public.
The hospital is being designed to meet standards for Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an internationally recognised accreditation system for rehabilitation facilities.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Abdelaziz Saeed Al Mheiri said the project reflects Sharjah’s commitment to strengthening healthcare infrastructure in all aspects of wellbeing.
“Mental health and rehabilitation have long needed dedicated infrastructure, and we are proud to support a private partner whose vision matches the ambition of this Emirate,” he said.
Dr. Thumbay Moideen said the project was a response to a growing need for specialised mental healthcare services in the region.
“We have spent over three decades building healthcare in this region, and the one conversation that has grown louder every year is mental health. Families have been carrying this quietly for too long. This hospital is our answer. It is purpose-built, not retrofitted, and it has been designed around dignity, recovery, and outcomes that families can trust,” he said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2026, and the hospital is expected to become operational by mid-2027.
Once completed, the facility will become part of Thumbay Group’s network of healthcare, education and diagnostic institutions across the UAE.
