Aadhaar to arrive in 43 districts on Jan 1

Announcement comes within days of EC asking govt to defer rollout in Gujarat and Himachal

The government on Thursday said the direct cash-transfer scheme would be implemented in 43 districts, against the 51 announced earlier. “As Aadhaar numbers are in the process of being issued, Aadhaar-enabled direct cash transfer is being implemented in a phase-wise manner, beginning with 43 districts from January 1, 2013,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The announcement comes within days of the Election Commission asking the government to defer the roll-out in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, where elections are scheduled. The Bharatiya Janata Party had objected to the earlier announcement of implementing the cash transfer for 29 welfare schemes in 51 districts from January 1, in view of the elections. The party complained and the election commission asked the government to postpone implementation of the scheme in the two states.

Chidambaram said in his reply a decision on whether Aadhaar should be mandatory for getting benefits through direct cash transfer would be taken by the ministries and departments concerned.

The electronic cash transfers will be based on Aadhaar (unique identification number) platform.