UPSC Prelims 2020— Question 31

This question tests aadhaar and data protection. The key concept is: The Aadhaar legal framework and Supreme Court judgment placed limits on retention and sharing of authentication information. The blanket claims about private contracts and mandatory Aadhaar for all insurance products are too broad. The statutory entitlement to benefits from the Consolidated Fund can involve Aadhaar-based identification where lawfully required, making the final combination statement-specific and legally qualified. The verified answer for the uploaded Set-B paper is option B. Option A — 1 and 4 only: This is not the correct option. The option does not match the verified combination or conclusion. The decisive point is the distinction explained above: The Aadhaar legal framework and Supreme Court judgment placed limits on retention and sharing of authentication information. The blanket claims about private contracts and mandatory Aadhaar for all insurance products are too broad. The statutory entitlement to benefits from the Consolidated Fund can involve Aadhaar-based identification where lawfully required, making the final combination statement-specific and legally qualified. Therefore this alternative should be eliminated even if part of its wording appears plausible in isolation. Option B — 2 and 4 only: This is the correct option. It matches the verified conclusion because The Aadhaar legal framework and Supreme Court judgment placed limits on retention and sharing of authentication information. The blanket claims about private contracts and mandatory Aadhaar for all insurance products are too broad. The statutory entitlement to benefits from the Consolidated Fund can involve Aadhaar-based identification where lawfully required, making the final combination statement-specific and legally qualified. The wording of the option is consistent with the governing concept tested by the question. Option C — 3 only: This is not the correct option. The option does not match the verified combination or conclusion. The decisive point is the distinction explained above: The Aadhaar legal framework and Supreme Court judgment placed limits on retention and sharing of authentication information. The blanket claims about private contracts and mandatory Aadhaar for all insurance products are too broad. The statutory entitlement to benefits from the Consolidated Fund can involve Aadhaar-based identification where lawfully required, making the final combination statement-specific and legally qualified. Therefore this alternative should be eliminated even if part of its wording appears plausible in isolation. Option D — 1, 2 and 3 only: This is not the correct option. The option does not match the verified combination or conclusion. The decisive point is the distinction explained above: The Aadhaar legal framework and Supreme Court judgment placed limits on retention and sharing of authentication information. The blanket claims about private contracts and mandatory Aadhaar for all insurance products are too broad. The statutory entitlement to benefits from the Consolidated Fund can involve Aadhaar-based identification where lawfully required, making the final combination statement-specific and legally qualified. Therefore this alternative should be eliminated even if part of its wording appears plausible in isolation. For UPSC-style elimination, first identify the exact proposition being tested, then evaluate each statement independently before comparing the answer codes. Avoid treating a broad or absolute statement as correct merely because its general theme is familiar. The precise qualifiers in the question—such as 'all', 'only', 'cannot', 'largest', 'always' or a specific institutional role—often determine the answer. On that basis, option B is the verified answer.