BHUBANESWAR: Union electronics and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated the union government’s claim that Aadhaar is totally safe and there is no need to panic at all.

Flaunting his Aadhaar card Prasad said, “I want to dispense some myths around Aadhaar. What does it contain? It contains my photograph and my permanent Patna address. It does not contain my caste, my religion, medical record, income records and matrimonial record, nothing. There is nothing in this card for which I can be trolled.” He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of inauguration of Software Technology Park of India’s new facility STPI ELITE here on Saturday.

Clarifying about the concerns over data theft from Aadhaar, Prasad said, “The system contains my core bio metrics – my ten finger prints and my iris, which is kept in safe condition, secured and encrypted form. It cannot be broken by the billionth of effort. It is all home grown technology”, he said.

He further said, as many as 3.5 crore authentication are done every day and 95 crore bank accounts are linked with Aadhaar, which is a digital identity to supplement physical identity. “You can change your name but you can’t change your biometrics and iris. That’s a clear Indian innovation, backed by a parliamentary law with due regards to privacy, safety and security of each and every citizen,” he added.

Prasad along with Union oil and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the second data centre for National Data Depository that stores country's sedimentary data for future use in oil and gas exploration and production located in the premises of STPI ELITE.

The state-of-the-art facility housed STPI’s Next Generation incubation facility, fabrication lab and data centre to cater the need of the IT/ITES/ESDM industries of the state.

“STPI’s innovative incubation model will spearhead the creation of employment, business growth and entrepreneurship in Odisha. The integrated facilities will work as an innovation hub which would encourage innovation, IPR creation, product development and offer a vibrant ecosystem for building a maker culture among the young techno-entrepreneurs, start-ups and boost the IT exports from the region,” said Prasad after inaugurating the facility.

The STPI ELITE has also been included in the Rental Subsidy Scheme of Odisha government under which the incubatees can avail the facility at an affordable cost and ensure a sustainable growth, official sources said.

On the occasion Union oil and petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had an interactive session with geologists from across the state. “The data centre which is the second largest after the one in Noida, will strengthen the economic ecosystem of Odisha. The centre will also help in attracting private investment in oil and natural gas sector,” Pradhan said.

