The Aadhaar Card 12 digit Unique Identification (UID) card will be made mandatory from July 1 to avail concession on railway tickets. The move is to avoid the misuse of the concession facilities offered by the Indian Railways.

Starting July 1, any person who wishes to avail the concessional benefits offered by the Ministry of Railways will have to furnish their Aadhaar Cards, say reports. All concessions on tickets provided by Indian Railways to more than 50 categories of passengers including senior citizens, students, research scholars, teacher, doctor, nurse, patients, sports people, unemployed youth, Arjuna awardees among others will be needed to furnish their Aadhaar cards to avail all these benefits from July 1.

The 12-digit Aadhaar number issued to Indian citizens by the Central government. It is issued and managed by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). Now Aadhaar is compulsory for availing many central government scheme benefits, PAN, LPG subsidy, etc.

In January this year, the Indian Railways had run a pilot project for senior citizens who were entitled to rail concessions. The concessional tickets cost the Railways about Rs. 1,600 crore in 2015-16, with the bulk being accounted for senior citizens. As per the government data, over 100 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued so for covering the majority of India's population.

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