'Govt committed to Aadhaar'

FM calls UID scheme a 'tool for empowerment'

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday reiterated the government’s commitment to Aadhaar, the national unique identity (UID) scheme, calling it a “tool for empowerment”.

Late last month, the Union Cabinet had decided to put on hold the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) project for transfer of cooking gas subsidy through the Aadhaar payment gateway, citing implementation challenges. This move was seen as a big blow to the ambitious scheme.

While presenting the government’s interim Budget to the Lok Sabha, Chidambaram said the “government remains fully committed to Aadhaar, under which 57 crore unique numbers have been issued so far, and to opening bank accounts for all Aadhaar holders in order to promote financial inclusion”.

He further added that the Aadhaar is needed by people at “the bottom of the pyramid, the poor, the migrant workers, the homeless, and the oppressed… and we will ensure that they get Aadhaar.” I have no doubt that in course of time even critics of Aadhaar will realise that Aadhaar is a tool of empowerment, he added.

 

Late last month, the government put in abeyance DBT in cooking gas into the bank accounts of beneficiaries and said a committee would be set up to review its execution; the Aadhaar-linked scheme would be put on hold till the report was given. This has led to critics questioning the government’s commitment to the UID scheme which has been battling challenges at multiple levels. 

 

DBT in cooking gas already covers 291 of the 640 districts in India, with 107 added only in January.

 

Chidambaram also said the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme which would be rolled out across the country is a year old and money is being transferred to beneficiaries under 27 identified schemes, including the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP). 

 

A total of 54,20,114 transactions have been done till January 31 and Rs.628 crore has been transferred. Another sum of Rs.3,370 crore has been transferred to 2.1 crore LPG (liquefied cooking gas) beneficiaries. “The latter scheme has been put on hold for the time being pending resolution of some difficulties that have been pointed out. However, let me reiterate that the Government remains fully committed to Aadhaar…” 

 

Over 583 million people have been issued the UID number so far and the government recently expanded the mandate of UID to enroll beyond 600 million people, which means that more residents will come under the project and faster.